Birthday Bunjees to the Links

Boy, have I got a lot of catching up to do… I haven’t blogged for 2 weeks and so much has happened since then, it seems more like 2 months! I’m going to make this one a recreational post, because we’ve done so much fun stuff in our free time, followed by an entry more related to Lords Meade and the volunteering side of our time in Uganda.  Moving way back to Wednesday 17th March, we had another birthday in the Busoga Trust Guest House, this time Joe’s. On his birthday a lot of us were busy in the morning and early afternoon, so we didn’t really kick things off until 3, when we all moved to Adrift to finally do the Nile High Bunjee, a terrific drop of 44m off a scaffold into the foaming Nile. We’d been waiting to do the bunjee for quite some time, and it was the perfect occasion to jump – we kicked off with the birthday boy, who tandem-jumped with Dom. Next out of the hat came Sophie & I, who had also decided to do a tandem jump. After they bind your ankles together it’s very difficult to move, and when they ask you to start shuffling your feet towards the drop it’s fairly petrifying. For the tandem jump, I was on the right hand side; left arm around Sophie, right arm clinging to the scaffold for dear life, so when Jack (the bunjee manager – aka the guy who pushes you off the edge of a 44m drop) said we could give a wave to our friends, I had no idea where he thought that hand was coming from, because I sure as hell wasn’t letting either of mine go!!! After a quick talk telling us not to let go of each other if we didn’t want to end up like the balls in a Newton’s Cradle, we got the call of 3…2…1… Bunjee, and we were over the edge and into the abyss!!! The adrenaline rush as you fly vertically downwards is incredible, and I would thoroughly recommend it to any traveller who passes through Jinja.

 

The very same weekend, we also did white water rafting down the Nile, and if you thought the bungee was scary, you’ve got another think coming! Grade 5 Rafting was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced in my life, and so, so much fun. The best moments were on a rapid called “Chop Suey”, which most of the teams didn’t do, but our instructor obviously thought would be educational. It was the third part of a set of rapids that started with a lot of vicious looking rocks, chucked us down the sheer drop of a waterfall, and then required us to paddle for our lives until our arms were numb, just in order to get us to a place on the river that the current didn’t want us to be in, so that we could go through the most dangerous rapids of the day. Awesome. Almost immediately, half of the boat fell out right in the middle of the most intense part (including me). I instantly regretted not trying a bit harder to cling on, because the river was dragging me straight downwards and pummelling me like Mike Tyson as I fought to get to the surface and breathe. It was so scary, and it felt like I was underwater for ages, even though it was probably only a couple seconds.  The day of rafting was soooo enjoyable and exhilarating, and the meals were the best food we’ve eaten on the whole trip, which is really saying something in comparison to the Busoga bistro! Breakfast on Sunday was full english with weetabix, coffee, juice & tea… need I say more??? Rafting the “White Nile” definitely gets a thumbs up from Miles!

Jinja Golf Club…

Yesterday Tom, Ollie & I stopped dithering about an idea that had been brewing for quite a while and hit the Jinja links! What a day it turned out to be! Despite the fact that there was a very obvious storm brewing, Ollie brandished his beanie, Tom tucked in his socks and I buttoned up to the tip top of my polo shirt… we definitely looked the part as we arrived with our set of guest house clubs. Immediately, we were beset by a few guys who wanted to caddy, and typically, they weren’t going to take no for an answer. We did graciously refuse though, until we made it out to the first tee-off and realised that we had no idea on earth where the green was. Cue the caddies running back over to us and offering their services once again, and this time we were obliged to accept if we had any self-respecting desire to complete the course. Our Ugandan caddies, Dan & Phillip, turned out to be really nice guys, and gave us a lot of pointers as we played through the holes… when the torrential rain cleared up it turned out to be a really nice day, and we couldn’t have hoped for a more idyllic setting than right next to Lake Victoria. As we were golfing, we even saw a few monkeys playing around, and had to scare them off when they started trying to nick our balls! Here’s a few photos of us in action…

 

 

So, thanks for stopping by, and check back soon for another instalment!

Joining the HYT Family/Kampala

The Ugandan’s have a very individual (and confusing) way of letting you know that they haven’t seen you recently, and that they have missed you… so I have to apologise for my absence from my blog over the past week, I have indeed been “lost, veeerrryyyy lost”.

On the other hand, I have done so much over the past 7 days, I’ve hardly had time to stop and think – after starting Paul off at Lords Meade last Saturday…

I spend the weekend unwinding after the intense and stressful preparations that had preceded his admission to secondary school. Monday was a national holiday – Women’s Day – so we had an extra day to relax, although it did entail a very painful evening where we were all forced to endure “Twilight, New Moon” the movie… at least my opinion that it would be an awful film is now justified. For dinner Connor and I cooked a mean “G.I. Shepherds Pie”, which was acclaimed as one of the best meals we’ve eaten so far. I was thoroughly astounded once again at my new-found abilities as a chef, although I’m not sure how much of the appreciation was fuelled by the massive hunger brought on during the 3 hours it took to prepare!!!

The rest of the week was incredibly busy, but let me start with Friday morning, when I woke up feeling as stiff as a board, very dirty, and immensely happy about it. It meant that Sophie, Rachel, Marianne, Tom and myself had spent a week living out in a Ugandan village, working for a charity called HYT (Haileybury Youth Trust) on their “One Village At A Time” project, helping in the process of totally re-modelling a secondary school called 3R’s. It was by far the most rewarding week so far, and I feel really lucky that we had the opportunity to go and experience rural Uganda in such an intimate way…

The Journey

…and Arrival

When we arrived we were introduced to the headmaster, John 1, deputy head, John 2, and workman, John 3… I obviously don’t stand a chance of ever being offered a job there!!! All the people were very welcoming, and we instantly felt at home. The students taught us African drumming and we taught them salsa dancing, then I went and played in a massive game of volleyball with the HYT construction workers.

HYT is a charity linked to Haileybury school in the UK, started by Clement Atlee, an alumnus of Haileybury school and British Prime Minister after Winston Churchill. They used to do alot of work in East London, but in recent years have transferred their efforts over to Uganda, and have begun the “One Village at a Time” project that I mentioned earlier. Tom and Marianne are the  ambassadors this year for HYT, and together with Helen, the HYT supervisor out here, are doing fantastic work improving 3R’s school, as well as furthering the reputation of the charity (which recently achieved NGO status).

During our stay we learnt to make the ISSB (Interlocking Stabilised Soil Block) bricks, using a Ugandan-designed machine…

As you can see, you have to throw your entire body weight on the lever to compress the brick, and it’s very tiring work, but at the same time fun, especially at the other end when you flip the lever over and the brick pops out on a pedestal, like something out of Indiana Jones. I did get some bad blisters off the machine, and redefined the meaning of pain as I cleaned them with antiseptic hand gel, which I realised was practically pure alcohol. Oh the burn! During our stay we hiked over to a local primary school, where we found a pond with turtles in it…

 

…crossed over….

…found a massive anthill…

…entered the school having given no reason whatsoever for our visit…

 …and were then expected to give speeches in front of all the students!!!

You’ve gotta love Uganda!!!

On Thursday we were taken to a nature reserve with an amazing waterfall and a totally unpronounceable name. The tour guide didn’t really speak much English, so we were quite baffled/intrigued when we found a small ravine with two tents at the bottom, outside which were planted stakes with human hands fashioned out of metal on the end. Rachel was straight in, calling up that it was “hands guys, it’s definitely voodoo.” We were thrilled that we had found witchcraft and black magic, but then I got a translation from the guide and it turned out to be a tourist attraction, which was frankly a bit of a letdown. He did show us a cave where people really did used to practice witchcraft, and there were some human jawbones there, as the Busoga people believed that the human spirit resided within the jaw, so the bones had healing properties… We then asked whether the guide subscribed to such beliefs, and he looked at us aloof and said very matter-of-factly “I am just a tour guide.” I presume the intended answer was “no”. Sadly, my camera battery had run out by this point, so I don’t have any photos to show you, but we are planning on going back to the site to camp in mid-April and I promise I’ll deliver then.

In the meantime, here are a few photos to conclude our stay in Lugazi…

The view from our room…

Which you can see here…

And here we are enjoying the evening with some of the workers

 

Over the weekend we made a road trip to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It was so great to start travelling around the country, because we all now really feel like Jinja is our home, and naturally we want to break out of that bubble… so we went to watch some of our friends play rugby against the Kampala Pirates, and it turned out to be a very entertaining match…

Things got off to a great start, with our team (Jinja Nile Rugby Club) scoring a cracking try. They really fought for it, before eventually slipping right through the defence with a couple tricky passes and feints. In the end they managed to land it smack bang in the middle of the goalposts, and Brook was able to make a very smooth conversion – we were going crazy in the stands, as you can see below…

In the end though, things started going downhill and the final score was 40-7 in the pirates’ favour, although the match got called off 10 minutes early after too many players got sent off… it all started when Joe, the coach, got into a scrap with another player, punched him in the face and promptly got shown the red, then in the next tackle instead of going for our player’s legs, the guy simply laid into him with his studs, and the match erupted into a full-scale brawl! No one got injured, but it was hilarious to watch, and all the Ugandans were just cheering for whoever threw the most punches. A woman next to us screamed “Number 1, I’m disappointed in you, we wanted to see blood!!!” Now all our Ugandan players have gone on strike because they aren’t getting paid and our Mzungu players are all rafting with us next weekend, leaving only Nial, an Irish guy, as the remaining player for the match next Saturday. I think it might be the end of an era…

But in any case, none of that was going to stop us from having a great night, so here we all are on the balcony of our Kampala hotel (before going out)…

and I’ll leave the next portion up to the imagination until morning…

when we were all still alive and ready to escape the loggerjam of mayhem that is daytime Kampala traffic and return to Jinja, home sweet home.

 

This week I’m going to be incredibly busy back at Lords Meade, leading up to the launch publication of the very first school newspaper on Friday 26th March. I’ll keep you posted!

Paul’s Big Start

Saturday was a proud day for me, my family, and Lords Meade Vocational College. After 2 days of shopping, planning and hard work, Paul was finally able to enter the school gates as a fully-fledged student. I honestly think it was the happiest day of his life so far, and I’d like to thank my family for taking the decision to sponsor him. It’s going to be fantastic to see how he grows into a confident young man and I’m glad that we can all help in paving that road for him. I would like to encourage others, (in particular any people who have a link with WGS, be they parents, teachers or relatives) to think about taking the opportunity to sponsor a young student who has completed primary school. It would make a phenomenal amount of difference to the life of a child from a local village (like Paul) – the government provides state-funded primary education for 7 years, but that is only sufficient enough to get an elementary job, for example as a market vendor, street-stall cook or bus driver. By providing secondary school education, you are opening the door for a whole range of careers, not to mention helping to move them, their families, and Uganda out of poverty and into a brighter future. Overall, the tuition costs are approximately £300 for a full year of boarding and 3 meals a day, so if you are interested, please get in touch with Val Fogarty at Wolverhampton Grammar School, and find out how you can make a difference!

A Prelude to Scholarship…

G’day to my loyal followers! We have all been so busy lately, and are still having an amazing time out here in Uganda, so let me try and give you some of the highlights…

Yesterday I went and collected Paul from ASCO, because we were about to embark on an epic journey to show him around Lords Meade, and see if he likes it before my family sponsor him. He took me on a tour of the market as we bought him a new set of clothes for his tour – it makes a big difference, because the children feel very uncomfortable in their dirty clothes in any social situation other than with their friends (I guess we all count as their friends, because they have no qualms with jumping all over us, play-fighting and trying to detach our fingers from our hands). The kids all call us uncles and aunts, and I enjoyed being the magnanimous uncle as I took Paul to see Lords Meade. He was so proud as he paraded around the market with a growing pile of brand new clothes in his hands, and was grinning from ear to ear by the time I got him back to the guest house to take a shower and change. When I complimented his flip flops, he thanked me, then wordlessly took me on an adventure into some district of Jinja I’d never seen before to get me a matching pair! They’re made from recycled car tires, and I now feel like a local. For a while we hung out at the guest house and ate cookies, drank cokes, watched TV to make him feel comfortable, as I knew he’d be nervous about going to see a new school. When we eventually reached Lords Meade, he was initially apprehensive, but that soon faded away after we went and got a massive takeaway samosa order from the canteen and embarked on the tour… He was overawed by the football grounds, classrooms, assembly hall, and the sheer size of the place!!! I was able to get Thomas (Paul’s best friend, who Rachel sponsored last week to join Lords Meade) out of his lesson, (major uncle points there) to come on the tour with us, and the boys both chatted away happily as we checked out the rest of the school.

 

 

Paul admitted that before he saw the school, he thought it was not very good, but he was totally surprised by the reality of Lords Meade and would absolutely love to go! Hopefully we are going to get him enrolled on Saturday, and he will experience his first lesson next week on Monday. The whole project is proving to be such a success!

 

On Tuesday we had a majorly awesome choir rehearsal with the fledgling young voices of Lords Meade

 

 

The photo there shows about half of the choir members – we were in full flow with a four-part canon at the time, and the students are proving very responsive to our coaching! Many of them play african drums, which we are hoping to incorporate into a performance sometime, as well as some western contemporary & street dance coached by Marianne. Even the students are getting involved – a young man called Zachary had composed an amazing song, sung in Luganda (the local native language). He has begun teaching the song to the choir, and frankly, it put our “Frere Jacque” to shame – we’re going to have to step our game up!

 

Back at the guest house, we’ve been playing some rather amusing American Football… with a rugby ball, in a garden barely big enough to fit a car into… All part of the GI philosphy! The girls were all very keen to take on the lads, which didn’t end well for them. Although, of course, they did win, according to them. Why? Did they get more points? No. They JUST WON.

Here you can see our improvised goalposts, with Dom doing a traditional African dance in order to protect himself from the unpredictable kicking habits of the ladies.

 

 

In other news… The Busoga Trust Bistro is still operating at a premium level, churning out such delicacies as enchiladas, shepherds pie and risotto, as well as the slightly more adventurous/vomitworthy “At Ease” (Apples filled with cheese and topped with a mystery spice) and a “Fish & Chips” dinner which turned out to be the ultimate car crash – we squeezed the lemons Dom provided onto the fish and found out they were oranges, then discovered that the gas had run out halfway through the cooking and half the group woke up the next morning with food poisoning!!! Excellent!

 

More next time… peace out.