Week 27 (21 – 27 Jan 2007)
The AIM Conference ended after lunch on Sunday. It was very interesting to hear about the work people are involved in neighbouring countries as well as in other parts of Uganda. Representatives from the whole of the new Central Region came from Chad, Central African Republic, southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda – a vast area considering that Uganda is about the size of the British Isles. We transferred to Lyn’s flat in Zzana for a much quieter evening. Lyn was able to tell us about her traumatic time during the last few days as well as updating us on other aspects of her work.
The efforts of the last week caught up a little on Monday and we took the opportunity to rest – and be near a flushing toilet. No graphic details this time, just a slight stomach upset for me which has now cleared.
On our last Friday in the UK we visited the dentist for a check up. Unfortunately, part of a tooth (James’) broke off during the conference. No pain fortunately, just sharp edges. So on Tuesday we set off to see a dentist. Remember, we’re now in Kampala and the thought of a Ugandan dentist did not fill me with joy. I don’t like dentists. But we managed to negotiate the Kampala public transport system and arrived 30 mins early. I was seen early but had a little difficulty working out who the dentist was – she looked very young. I know, Laura, I’m very old. The surgery was recommended to us by our new German team leader who emphasised that they were very good with children so I should be OK! He had provided them with some Christian music to play in the waiting room. It’s amazing how prayer and dentists seem to come together! There wasn’t a serious problem, just some filing which was quickly treated but I will need to return for a crown or two in due course. I would have no problems with this surgery – it seemed just like ours in Brentwood. But they’re from South Africa!
Andrea is looking for some recorders - the sort everyone learns to make a dreadful noise with in primary school (Laura excepted), not the electronic sound storage type. We had seen them in a shop called “Game”, a large multi-purpose western-style place. But it’s in Uganda and they said they had some but couldn’t tell us where they were in the store! We gave up the search after nearly an hour. As we successfully negotiated our way around the city shops we found a music shop by accident. But the recorders were much too expensive. Otherwise, the trip was successful in that we confirmed our flights back to Arua and found the head office of our Ugandan bank i.e. got more money out. Our trip back to the flat was uneventful by Ugandan standards. Just hot, busy and tiring.
After a gentle start to Wednesday we walked up the hill to Matoke Inn. It was hot and there is very little shade on the way. Just as we reached the shady part a cloud came over and as we left it – the cloud moved on. We both drank half a litre of water during the 45 minute sauna. We had lunch at the Inn with some of the short term people we met at the conference. In the afternoon we participated in the first committee meeting to plan for the 2008 conference! Andrea will arrange the worship and music and I’m left with the finances as there were no volunteers and they are under the impression that I can count. Still, it’s the best way to find out how an organisation functions. Fortunately, we were given a lift back down the hill to Zzana as we were still recovering a little from our earlier exertions. Or was it the after effects of a committee meeting?
Thursday was a fairly busy day, beginning with our “Beginning of Term” review for AIM. It was good to chat over what we have done so far and what we would like to do in future with Gregg who ‘inspected’ our house for AIM in June and organised our Uganda Induction. This was followed by a meal with Christine, the AIM Member Care leader who visited us in Ushindi before going back to the UK. Then we went for a swim at the American Recreation Club in Kampala as guests of Angus and Helen. Helen was in our tutor group at All Nations and Angus attended some sessions. They are now living in Kampala with their three children. It was interesting to compare and contrast our experiences – of moving to and settling in Uganda rather than about our swim. Then we returned to Lyn’s flat to pack! The power was off and there has been no hot water since Monday! A good preparation for our return to Arua.
The alarm went off at 5am on Friday. We woke up sometime later but managed to be ready for our taxi to the airport at 6am. Still no electricity. And this is Kampala City. At 6.15am, Lawrence, the taxi driver said that he was stuck. He was in Zzana village but a pile of sand was blocking the road! Fortunately, it wasn’t more that 200m away but it was a bit odd dragging our cases through the muddy path and around the pile of sand in the dark. The sand wasn’t there at 7pm last night and wouldn’t have taken more than half an hour to spread over the muddy area so that folk could pass fairly easily. Anyway, our flight to Arua was straightforward and we collected the car before doing some food shopping. Everything seemed very familiar – except the much higher temperatures, generally over 30°C. We received a very warm welcome back at the school by our neighbours. The house was a bit dusty so had to be cleaned before we unpacked. This took a while as we worked slowly in the heat. Well, Andrea slept for a couple of hours. Then the temperature dropped by 15°C very rapidly and there was a long heavy thunderstorm. This is the hot dry season.
Not much happened on Saturday. The rain had dried by the time we surfaced and we pootled around sorting out things and finding some new routines. The toilet door had swollen so needed to be chiselled a bit so that it would close and one of the window mosquito net frames has warped badly and needed repairs. And that’s about it for this week. At least we have a week to settle, prepare lessons etc before the start of term on Mon 5th Feb.
The efforts of the last week caught up a little on Monday and we took the opportunity to rest – and be near a flushing toilet. No graphic details this time, just a slight stomach upset for me which has now cleared.
On our last Friday in the UK we visited the dentist for a check up. Unfortunately, part of a tooth (James’) broke off during the conference. No pain fortunately, just sharp edges. So on Tuesday we set off to see a dentist. Remember, we’re now in Kampala and the thought of a Ugandan dentist did not fill me with joy. I don’t like dentists. But we managed to negotiate the Kampala public transport system and arrived 30 mins early. I was seen early but had a little difficulty working out who the dentist was – she looked very young. I know, Laura, I’m very old. The surgery was recommended to us by our new German team leader who emphasised that they were very good with children so I should be OK! He had provided them with some Christian music to play in the waiting room. It’s amazing how prayer and dentists seem to come together! There wasn’t a serious problem, just some filing which was quickly treated but I will need to return for a crown or two in due course. I would have no problems with this surgery – it seemed just like ours in Brentwood. But they’re from South Africa!
Andrea is looking for some recorders - the sort everyone learns to make a dreadful noise with in primary school (Laura excepted), not the electronic sound storage type. We had seen them in a shop called “Game”, a large multi-purpose western-style place. But it’s in Uganda and they said they had some but couldn’t tell us where they were in the store! We gave up the search after nearly an hour. As we successfully negotiated our way around the city shops we found a music shop by accident. But the recorders were much too expensive. Otherwise, the trip was successful in that we confirmed our flights back to Arua and found the head office of our Ugandan bank i.e. got more money out. Our trip back to the flat was uneventful by Ugandan standards. Just hot, busy and tiring.
After a gentle start to Wednesday we walked up the hill to Matoke Inn. It was hot and there is very little shade on the way. Just as we reached the shady part a cloud came over and as we left it – the cloud moved on. We both drank half a litre of water during the 45 minute sauna. We had lunch at the Inn with some of the short term people we met at the conference. In the afternoon we participated in the first committee meeting to plan for the 2008 conference! Andrea will arrange the worship and music and I’m left with the finances as there were no volunteers and they are under the impression that I can count. Still, it’s the best way to find out how an organisation functions. Fortunately, we were given a lift back down the hill to Zzana as we were still recovering a little from our earlier exertions. Or was it the after effects of a committee meeting?
Thursday was a fairly busy day, beginning with our “Beginning of Term” review for AIM. It was good to chat over what we have done so far and what we would like to do in future with Gregg who ‘inspected’ our house for AIM in June and organised our Uganda Induction. This was followed by a meal with Christine, the AIM Member Care leader who visited us in Ushindi before going back to the UK. Then we went for a swim at the American Recreation Club in Kampala as guests of Angus and Helen. Helen was in our tutor group at All Nations and Angus attended some sessions. They are now living in Kampala with their three children. It was interesting to compare and contrast our experiences – of moving to and settling in Uganda rather than about our swim. Then we returned to Lyn’s flat to pack! The power was off and there has been no hot water since Monday! A good preparation for our return to Arua.
The alarm went off at 5am on Friday. We woke up sometime later but managed to be ready for our taxi to the airport at 6am. Still no electricity. And this is Kampala City. At 6.15am, Lawrence, the taxi driver said that he was stuck. He was in Zzana village but a pile of sand was blocking the road! Fortunately, it wasn’t more that 200m away but it was a bit odd dragging our cases through the muddy path and around the pile of sand in the dark. The sand wasn’t there at 7pm last night and wouldn’t have taken more than half an hour to spread over the muddy area so that folk could pass fairly easily. Anyway, our flight to Arua was straightforward and we collected the car before doing some food shopping. Everything seemed very familiar – except the much higher temperatures, generally over 30°C. We received a very warm welcome back at the school by our neighbours. The house was a bit dusty so had to be cleaned before we unpacked. This took a while as we worked slowly in the heat. Well, Andrea slept for a couple of hours. Then the temperature dropped by 15°C very rapidly and there was a long heavy thunderstorm. This is the hot dry season.
Not much happened on Saturday. The rain had dried by the time we surfaced and we pootled around sorting out things and finding some new routines. The toilet door had swollen so needed to be chiselled a bit so that it would close and one of the window mosquito net frames has warped badly and needed repairs. And that’s about it for this week. At least we have a week to settle, prepare lessons etc before the start of term on Mon 5th Feb.
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