Goodbye India :(

The last post. I cannot believe it! It’s a cliché but it feels like only yesterday James and I were planning our trip and packing our bags. We have had the most amazing time but alas it’s time to come home. The last few weeks have consisted of some painful Indian bugs in the stomach, bladder and eyes. But you know it wouldn’t have been a complete trip without them!

Since I last wrote we have spent a lot of time.. no I’ll rephrase that, all of our time on the beach in Goa. We were planning to travel around a bit more but the bugs got the better of us. We have been eating, sleeping and swimming and that’s about it! Oh and Canoeing, this became a favorite past time of ours.

We are now in Delhi and just as we arrived a very exciting thing happened (for us anyway). We were waiting to get our luggage and a familiar looking guy was standing beside us. It was Mark Thomas (the comedian/campaigner)! We got chatting to him (after doing the whole embarrassing, urm… excuse me... are you Mark Thomas? Ah we’ve read your book and seen you perform… we really like you..) he was telling us how he’s writing a book on Coca Cola… dishing the dirt basically… Very interesting.

Anyway like I said were in a hot and sweaty Delhi now, It brings back memories of being in Kolkata. After spending 2 blissful weeks in Goa it also reminds me what a harsh country this place can be, especially to the poor and lower castes.

We leave tomorrow and our last day consists of us freaking out every now and then.. We are trying to calm our nerves with a kingfisher and game of Yatzee. It’s not really working!

I cannot wait to see every one and catch up with you all… I hoped you’ve enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing!

So thats all Folk's... for now

From the North to the South

Hello! We have been traveling around like mad I haven’t had chance to write. SO much has been happening. We left Jaipur to spend 3 and a half nights in the Thar desert. This was fantastic, an absolutely magical experience. Our guides went by the names of Del boy and Rodney. They were legends. Our camels were called Raj and… oh dear I forget James’… Anyway they were also great although let off an awful smell a little too often.

We saw only goat herders for the whole 4 days, just what we needed after crazy Kolkata. We walked for 3 hours in the morning then cooked on a camp fire and ate. Then had about a 2 hour sleep under a tree whilst the hottest part of the day passed, then we walked (well the camels did, we bobbed) for 2 more hours to where we would camp for the night. It was so much fun. Then to top it off James asked me to marry him on a sand dune at sun set…. How very romantic! I said yeees so we’re weeell excited!!

After Jaisalmer and the desert we traveled to Udaipur, another town in Rajasthan, this is famous for it’s lakes and palace in the water. It was here that the Bond film ‘Octopussy’ was filmed.. We watched It in a bar there… what a classy film. I never realised Bond was such a perv! Ah well, I shall add it to the huge list of things I have learnt on this trip!

After Udaipur we trained it back to Jaipur in order to head down to Kerala. So now we are in the south. We spent a few days on Fort Kochi where they have the most amazing Chinese fishing nets. You see them all the time on photos but to see them in action was fascinating.

We went to see a classical performance with the ‘Bamboo flute’ in the local bamboo theatre. This was beautiful. I got talking to the flute player and he agreed to give me a lesson the next day, wahoo! I was so excited as I bought a bamboo flute in Kolkata and haven’t been able to make it work.. So I went along the next day, he proved to me the flute did work. This also proved how terrible I was! (I used to have flute lessons so to not be able to make a sound was pretty upsetting). He gave me a south Indian flute and told me to learn on that. It was ace to play/practice with such a fantastic flute player. So now here I am wondering round India with a bamboo flute on my back, getting it out at every opportunity! I really do look the part! I’m thinking is perhaps time to come home..

Also at this theatre we saw an 18th century Keralan play. There were 3 actors and the all had the most amazing make up. Part of the performance was watching them do their make up. This theatre really was a good find.

We have now moved on from Fort Kochi and we are in a place called Alleppy. We are going on a boat around the backwaters tomorrow, then we are heading to a beach as time is ticking away and after hearing about the weather at home, I want to make the most of the sun.

Thank you everyone for the gorgeous messages to both James and I about the engagement, we’re glad you’re all excited too! Amy xxx

Varanasi and Jaipur

Were on the road.... it's great! The first few days were weird as we wondered around not quite knowing what to do with ourselves, still having thoughts for the hospice and other bits of work... but we took it easy, ate a lot and drank much chai and now we are well and truly in doing sod all traveler mode! (it's a hard life i know)

Our first stop was Varanasi. The holiest place in India. It was interesting. A great deal smaller than Kolkata which was nice, we went on a boat on the holy Ganges at sun rise, it was very beautiful. There was mist covering it and it definitely felt holy. There were people bathing, swimming, washing clothes and drinking the water all side by side (next to a sewage pump.) it was crazy to see. After hearing the horror stories of how polluted the water was i am pleased to say i didn't fall in, even though our boat was a little unstable!

We wondered around the bazars (markets) and i fell in love with everything i saw (for a shock!) i had a skirt made out of a sari and a dress made. I was in my element and James was happy as every shop we went in, he was given chai.

Then we headed on a night train, (which turned out to be a night and half a day train) to Jaipur, Rajasthan. It is gorgeous here. It's a little hotter and has a Middle Eastern feel to it. I love it.

Jaipur is named the pink city as a lot of the buildings are a beautiful shade of... pink. There is so much detail on all of the buildings. I have become obsessed with photographing the patterns and details of the buildings. (and I'm wanting to recreate them in our house at home... when we get one!)

It is so relaxed here, the LP says its 'Rajasthan's most polluted and pushy city'. To James and i who have just spent 3 months in Kolkata, it's a town, no it's better than that, it's a village!

So were heading onto Jaisalmer tonight to ride camels in the desert, then making a B line for the beaches. I hope everyone at home is well and happy. Quite often our conversation out here turns to coming home. It feels very strange but kind of exciting. I just hope we bring the weather home with us... BUT this is still 5ish weeks off and we have got a lot more land to cover here in India, so for now Namaste xx

Goodbye Kolkata :(

Woah. It’s been an age since i last wrote. So much has been happening. We only have a few days left in Kolkata before we hit the road and i feel so sad. Both James and I feel settled and just like in Uganda, we feel we could stay longer.

We are wrapping up our work for the hospice but there is still so much more we want to do. We have realised that 3 months is just enough time to get settled in a place. I feel like i know how to handle Kolkata now and that i could really get stuck in to some long term work.... But (don’t worry mum) were not going to stay. We weighed up staying for a few more weeks and cut down our time traveling but we realised that would be silly. What more can we do in a few weeks. Plus I have wanted to travel India for as long as I can remember and here we are on the verge of it. It will be silly to pass it up. So we head off on Tuesday to Varanasi, the holiest place in India. That’s pretty exciting!

But to fill you in on the last few weeks... We have had lots of new volunteers to keep us company. It’s been ace to be around motivated people. We spent last week end at the Sundarbans. This is where ‘The Jungle Book’ was based. Unfortunately we did not bump into Balloo (much to my disappointment) in fact we spent 2 nights in a tiger reserve and didn’t see any tigers. We weren’t really expecting to though as there are approximately only 100 left. So sad.

Still an interesting fact... the tigers are man eating tigers and each day when the men in the local villages head off to work, the woman do not put on the ‘marriage gear’ until the men return. They see them selves as widows as they are not sure there husbands will return.

We spent 2 nights on a boat with a bunch of middle class Bengali's. It was great fun and interesting to see what the Bengali's do for entertainment. At night we were split into two groups (males and females) and had a ‘sing off’! We had a microphone and had to sing a song beginning with the last letter of the song the men’s group had just sung. It was hilarious. James got up and sang ‘lady in red’ and I rocked out to ‘rockin robin’. In fact I sang a few songs, there was no stopping me. I’m not a great singer but I definitely/hopefully was not as bad as some of the others there!

About work... I have set up the blog site for our Hospice. It is www.friendsofarunima.blogspot.com but we are hoping to get a website set up as I’ve been doing a bit of emailing around and we will hopefully we have some help on board! James has been writing up all our research information from the hospice and has report info coming out of his ears. However we had a day off today to go on a cooking course. It was great fun. We learnt how to make chapattis, chana masala (chickpea curry) aloo dum (potato and tomatoes) and some aubergine dish. It was great as the cooks were showing us what spices go well together. Were looking forward to trying them out when were home. We also bought a book called ‘the Calcutta Kitchen’ so when were back we’d love some ginuepigs to try our recipes out on! (Don’t all message me at once will you :)

So our last few days here will consist of saying goodbye to our friends we’ve made, visiting some last sights and finishing off our work. Its all very emotional but I’m sure when were packed and traveling we’ll be very happy we decided not to stay longer! Speak soon Amy xxx

Flagellation and a Trip to the Sea Side

Hey Ho,

I hope everyone is fine and dandy. James and i are well. We have just spent a long weekend out of Kolkata.. bliss!

It was much needed after a crazy week. There was a Muslim festival on celebrating/mourning the death of the profit Ali. Someone had told us to go along as "it will be bright and colourful". So we went... there weren't that many people at the beginning, just groups of kids playing the drums and dancing. Another volunteer brought a small drum and joined in. It was all good but were attracted a lot of attention as we were the only non Indians there. Everyone wanted to talk to us or have a picture. Without realising it turned dark and the crowds were out in force. There must have been thousands of people there. Many people had Gurkha hunting knives and were swinging them around, then a bunch of young lads pushed past us knocking us flying, suddenly the place was mental and we were stuck in the middle of it.

The police dragged us to the side (there were 5 of us) and told us not to move until the end. I've never been so pleased to see the kolkata police until then! As we watched the festivities a white flag was marching towards where we were. The flag was covered in red dots. It turns out this is the festival where some people flagellate themselves. The red dots were blood and they were heading our way. I was petrified! There was around 15 men all slicing themselves with razors. It was madness. Blood was flying everywhere. Luckily we were just out of spraying distance.

Although i would never repeat the experience it was fascinating. What was also amazing was the kindness of the people there. They could tell we were uneasy about it all and they were all looking after us. This was another display of how amazing people can be in Kolkata.

After all that excitement we had a calm week. I got a cold that turned into sinusitis. I had traffic light snot that would not shift so i ended up taking antibiotics. Nothing clears on its own in this city! We went to see Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' at the theatre. This was ace; it was Shakespeare done Bollywood style! They broke out into song at least 3 times. Awesome.

Now we're in Puri waiting for out train to take us back to Kolkata. Puri is India's version of Skeggness! It's very small and a little grubby but it is great to get away. It is also a pilgrimage site for Hindus.

There is an amazing Temple called the Sun Temple. It's fascinating as it's covered in pornographic carvings. Our guide told us it was to try and bring people back to Hinduism after they had converted to Buddhism in the 1300's. It was quite funny (and a little embarrassing) as our guide insisted on describing what the carvings were of.. exactly. After the 30Th time of him saying "she is lick and he is suck" i couldn't stop laughing whilst James tried to stay straight faced and interested! If anyone ever comes here. Please get a guide, it will make your day!

We only have 3 weeks left to work and in that time we feel we have so much to do. We are setting up a 'Friends of Arunima Hospice' blog site at the moment. I will post the address as soon as it'd done. Please do check it out when i do because it is a fantastic organisation that needs publicity.

We miss everyone lots so keep in touch. Much love Amy xxx

Taxi drivers, groping men... and chocolate cake

I cannot believe its the 13th already. This year is flying by! James and i realised the other day we have only 12 weeks left..nooo!

Work has really stepped up a gear and is very challenging. We are now spending most of our time at Arunima Hospice. We are working on patients case studies. The hospice want to know what the patients think of the place and what can be done to improve it. It's going really well. The patients are really opening up. They all recognise us now and take time to come and have a conversation each day. Whether it's broken English (difficult) broken Bengali (very difficult) or just smiles and hand gestures! Either way it's really nice.

We are also setting up a training programme on HIV in the local English speaking schools. This is great as it means we can build on what we did in Uganda. Then aside from that, James is still helping the government with their research and excel stuff ( i don't really know a great deal about that) and I'm still helping at the injecting drug users project and school. Although as i thought not a lot has happened with the bead making work. It's a real shame but i keep trying to push it but no one really takes too much of an interest.

Kolkata... i still have a love hate relationship with this place. We can have a great day then something will happen that just drives us mad. We jumped in a taxi the other day and instead of taking us 5 mins down the road like we asked.. we ended up over the other side of the city. It is so annoying as everyone seems to want to rip us off.. or run us over.. or something!


I'm still finding it difficult to put up with the pervy groping men. It's horrendous and i don't know how the women put up with it. I have taken to making a bit of a scene when the men get too friendly. This works a treat as it shames them and they scuttle off like the grubby pervs they are! I will add here though - not all the men are like this. Just a select (quite large select) few.

However... The thing i have found with Kolkata is that it's a city that has no barriers. It accepts everyone, this is why there are such extremes. It's a real insight into humanity and is good to be part of it for a while. I am slowly beginning to realise how lucky we are to be spending some time here and experiencing it (even with the crazy taxi drivers and groping men!). I have never been to a place that accepts everyone and i can't imagine there are many more places in the world like this!

It's some volunteers' birthdays today so were off to eat chocolate cake.. mmmmmm

lots of love Amy xxx

Sikkim, Darjeeling and 2008!

Hello 2008.. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and grand New Year!

James and I are very well. We spent Christmas up in Sikkim at the base of the Himalayas. It was amazing. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life! (Some pictures are on facebook).

We arrived late in the dark after a very long train journey and just as long jeep journey. As it was dark we had no idea we’d arrived into another world! We woke up the next day, stepped out of our room only to be greeted by Kachenjunga. The 3rd biggest mountain in the world. There were Tibetan prayer flags everywhere. The place was magical… but freezing! We were not used to this at all. So we spent 4 days wondering around monasteries and relaxing. Christmas day was strange; we woke up in our freezing cold, non heated room. We did have a 6 inch Christmas tree and some chocolate coins from my mum.. I mean Santa. We ate wontons and soup and plum cake with some other travelers we’d met. This was really nice but we missed our families and of course the Christmas dinner. I’m still craving stuffing and gravy!

There was a Christmas festival in Sikkim so we went along, James was rocking out to Nepali rock after a go on the local brew. EVERYONE stared, and then joined in!

We then headed to Darjeeling on Boxing day. This again was beautiful but for different reasons. We could still see the Himalayas in the background which was again beautiful. We spent most of our time drinking tea. One day we spent the day tea tasting. We had 17 different types (not full cups of course). It was ACE! I don’t think the shop owner was too happy that we didn’t buy the most expensive though. I think he thought he was on to a winner with us!

We also stumbled upon a hotel that looked like it had been pulled straight out of old England. There was a roaring fire and a huge Christmas tree. We had high tea there everyday!…

One sad thing about Darjeeling was the Zoo. The animals were in tiny cages and were pacing up and down. They looked like they were slowly going mad. We didn’t like it at all and have decided not to go to another Zoo… Especially in India.

Then we have spent New Year back in Kolkata. We headed to Park Street. The ‘happening’ place for New Year. It was fun but a little too overcrowded. The West Bengali men were getting far too excited at the amount of women in skirts. It was all a bit gross really. We had food but headed back to our guest house to see the New Year in with the other volunteers.

Today we have been back to work and we’re off to see a Bollywood film tonight. A perfect start to the New Year I think!

I hope everyone had there own holiday fun. Love Amy xxxx

Wearing Jumpers

We have settled in even more now and things are going well. James was horribly ill but has now recovered and fighting fit! Things are becoming very Christmassy now. Our neighbour plays carols very early every morning and last thing at night, but it’s kind of nice. It’s getting a bit chilly in the mornings now… we even have to put a jumper on (very strange).

Yesterday the church next to our guesthouse was holding a Christmas party for some of the street children. 350 kids turned up to see santa! They were all given a good meal and a present. They hung on to the present for dear life. There was music and they were all dancing.
It was adorable to watch but twined with sadness. Outside the gates, tons more children were scrabbling to get in. They were not able to let everyone in. I found this hard as not only were they shunned by society every other day of the year, these kids were being shunned again on the day of their Christmas party. At the end of the party, there was some meal boxes left so they were given to the kids outside. This was a small consolation for those left out I suppose.

It has taken a while for our project to be in full swing. I will be spending 3 days a week at a hospice for people with AIDS. Everyone is so friendly and they are doing great work. They have an outreach project that I am getting involved with. The other two days I am pushing hard for the bead project to go ahead. SCIR seem egar but things happen so slowly in India I am not holding my breath.

So, altogether things are going well. We have been away for almost 5 months now and it is all happening so fast. I have finally put some photo’s up on my facebook (sorry if you don’t have facebook). It’s just it takes sooo long to upload them onto this page.

Let us know how you’re all getting on as James and I would love to hear from you, it’s so weird being away from everyone at this time of year!

Lots of crimbo love Amy xxx

Kolkata aka 'The City of Joy'

If id have written this a few days ago like I had intended it would be somehow different! It would probably have started like this aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. But we’ve been in Kolkata over a week now and we have started to settle in.

This city is also known as the ‘city of joy’ and at first I really couldn’t understand this. I have never in my life seen or imagined such poverty. There is no such thing as space. Every square inch of the city is occupied by a person or a family. People sleep in the middle of the street, side by side with stray dogs. Babies are just sleeping on the pavement and busy crowds are stepping over them…

We are staying in a guest house in the middle of the city. It’s a little spooky. Next to a huge church. James and I are living in a small room at the top of a funny tower. Very weird but its becoming home!

We have met with our organisation which sounds very interesting. We are working for the West Bengali Public Services for AIDS Control. The organisation is the biggest HIV/AIDS org in India. They fund many NGO’s and it’s within these NGO’s we are based. One is called ‘Social and Community Intervention and Research’. This is where we will be spending a great deal of our time. Basically they work with those most at risk of becoming HIV+. (Mainly sex workers and injecting drug users.)

The centre is based in the middle of a huge slum. There is also a school at the top of the centre for the children to attend. It’s a place for the children to go to play, learn, eat and generally be children. They all live in shacks built with cardboard and tarpaulin on the railway lines. Most of their fathers are alcoholics and there is domestic violence within the ‘home’. The school is a place for them to have fun. We spend a few mornings a week helping out there.

The rest of the centre is dedicated to adults who are mainly HIV+. There is counseling, medical services, group work and vocational training for the men (leather making and screen printing). However, there is no vocational training for the women. This is where I am hoping to help out. We are starting a group for the women. Bead making (like the beautiful paper ones in Uganda) and general crafts. The women will then sell them in the local tourist markets. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes as of course it’s early days.

James is working in the research department of the organisation, plus the Public Services Office want to use his skills so he’s going to be splitting his time with them.

We are looking forward to diving into the work. However we have had a minor set back in the shape of a shitty virus! James has had a temperature and aches and chills but the doc’s pumped him full of drugs and he’s getting better. It does mean he’s spent the last 2 days in bed though!

So apart from that… Things are good. Kolkata is a crazy place but I am beginning to see why it is called the city of Joy. People may be very poor but everyone smiles and people are friendly to each other. Plus there is a lot of chai stalls which makes me happy! There is so much to see and do I do not think we’ll get bored in the next 3 months! I hope all is well at home and everyone is getting ready for Christmas. We are getting out of the city and spending some time in Sikkim at the base of the Himalayas, I can’t wait for fresh air!

Gorgeous Goa

Wow well after the shock of Delhi we traveled down to Goa for a two week holiday with my parents. It has been amazing. I feel so relaxed I don’t want to leave. We have just waved them goodbye and we are now sat in a sweaty Internet café in Margo waiting to board the train to Mumbai. Were feeling very deflated to I thought writing my blog would help!

Before my mum and dad got here we stayed in a place called Calangute for 2 nights. To put it bluntly it was Costa del RANK. We were gutted. It was full of fat, bold, beer louts! The beach was rammed and the bars were playing the worst 90’s dance music.. far too loud. We escaped there as soon as we could and met my mum and dad in panjim.

We stayed at a place called Panjim Inn. It was the most beautiful place, very old and colonial. There were 4 poster beds in our rooms, which were so old. (We could tell they were old as one night we were all sat on my mum and dads and it broke… whoops..)

We had a big catch up over tea and galaxy (mmmmmm). It was great. We spent most of our time in Panjim drinking tea and eating the best Indian food. In one place It was hilarious to see my dads face when we told him you have to eat with your hands!

I also had my first experience at Diving. I loved it. We dived a wreck, which was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. I definitely want to do more of that, so James and I are tempted to come back after Kolkata.

From Panjim we visited Old Goa then traveled down to Colva. This was a nice simple beach, not half as busy as Calangute and much nicer. However there were the most stray dogs you’ve seen in your life. Most of them were covered in scratches and flesh rotting diseases. They looked so sad.

We started to relax there and me and mum became obsessed with the street stalls.. We found it very difficult to say no! (No surprise there then.) We also visited a spice plantation, which was beautiful. It was great to see where the spices came from. When the guide would ask us what spice we thought it was James would more often than not get it right (because of his love for cooking) and the other people on the tour would tut and giggle. It was funny because they clearly thought he was a massive geek! But he didn’t really give a shit!

Then from Colva for our last 5 days we moved on to Palolim. We had been advised not to go there because of how busy it was but we must have struck lucky because it was beautiful and empty. It was a tropical Glastonbury! The crowds hadn’t arrived yet. Mum and I did Yoga on the beach with this ancient Indian man who looked unbelievably supple for his age! We drank Chai and ate cake every day and I had the best massage of my life. We really didn’t want to leave this place AT ALL.

But we have to and to be honest I feel we’ve been so lucky to have the last month doing what we’ve been doing we need to pay it back!

So we’re waiting for our train to Mumbai, then up to Kolkata to start work. Although I’d like to stay by the beach forever, I am really looking forward to Kolkata as I can’t wait to take what we’ve learned in Uganda and see if it helps here in India.

I hope everyone is well and getting ready for Christmas.. James and I are going to see if we can sus a place to have a crimbo dinner!

Lots of love Amy xxx

Indiaaaa

Well here we are… after a looong journey from Uganda we finally arrived in a hot and smelly Delhi. It was not how I imagined. My first impressions were as if the place had been in a war. But no James assured me its just India. We headed straight to a place called main Bizarre. A load of streets jammed packed with people trying to sell you everything, tugging on you for money, trying to run you over… Dogs and rats everywhere…

Coming from Uganda where the place and people are practically horizontal it was a huge shock. It’s also Dawali which is amazing but just adds to the craziness. We decided to find our bearings (as much as you can in one day). We ate the most gorgeous dal and naan and had our first chai (mmmm). We then booked ourselves a train ticket to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The train was surprisingly nice (apart from the rat running down the light strip). We got up at 5am to see the Taj Muhal and it was beautiful. There was fog coming from the river, drifting across it, which added to the eerie atmosphere. It was ace.

We were unable to book a train ticket back to Delhi as they were all full so we had to wait in line at the booking office first thing in the morning to make sure we got a cancelled ticket. This was hell. The place was rammed and people were literally fighting for the tickets. There were police there but it made no difference as everyone was bribing them! We got our tickets finally and to be honest I was pretty pleased to leave Agra by that point. We are now back in Delhi with one day to do a bit of sight seeing before we leave for Goa. I am so excited about the idea of relaxing on a beach and seeing my mum and dad.

A few things I have noticed since I have been here which has been a huge shock to me is… people generally pooh wherever they want. There is shit all over the train tracks. (not everyone though). Also so many people live on the platforms at the train stations. There are tents erected and whole families live there and make there living by begging on the trains. The poverty smacks you in the face as soon as you come into Delhi and it is so heartbreaking to see. I thought coming from Uganda I may be a little prepared but I was not at all.

I have only been here (like I said) for 4 days so can only write about what I have seen so far. My opinion I am sure will be very different in a couple of months. I am looking forward to staying in this country for 5 months as already I am fascinated. I can’t believe were finally here!!

Gorrillas and hot showers and on we go..

My last post from Uganda, how sad:(. I have completely mixed feelings. I adore Uganda and really don’t want to leave as I am so comfortable here. However we are going on to India. I am so excited as I’ve wanted to go for years (but I am a little nervous too).

Our last 2 weeks in Uganda have been amazing. We picked up James’ mum from the airport which was so nice to see family. We had a huge catch up in Kampala then headed off down to the south of Uganda. It was exciting as we have not ventured down there yet. Our first stop was a place called Lake Bunyonyi. It is a huge crater lake. Very beautiful but very cold! A big change from what we were used to. We borrowed a dug out canoe and James paddled us round the Island. It was so peaceful.

We then went on to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Here we went Gorilla tracking. This was unreal. We were so close to the gorillas, I was a little scared! They sat there eating and farting… It reminded me of humans. It took 4 hours to find them but was well worth it.

The next day we headed onto Ishasha. This was to see the tree climbing lions but they clearly were not bothered about seeing us as they didn’t show their faces. We were a little sad but instead we saw many elephants. They were huge and one of the elephant’s trunks was hanging on by a thread. The guide said it had been in a fight.

We did however get to see the lions the next day. There were 6 lying in front of us. (We were in the safety of the car of course). They were so sleepy and cuddly… (well maybe not cuddly.)

We saw many hippo’s, croc’s, cob’s and buffalo. It was amazing to see and it was the Africa we all see on TV. We also went chimp tracking and stayed in the most amazing lodge overlooking the set of King Kong. Well not quite but it could have been. It was such a contrast from what we have been doing for the last 3 months. It took a while to get used to having access to a hot shower every day but I soon got used to it!

The rest of this week we have been showing James’ mum around saying our farewells. This was very hard. The children in the school sang to us and the teachers and directors made very emotional speeches. I was in tears by the end of it. But as they keep saying it’s a necessary evil and we must head on!

So we are spending our last day in Uganda in Jinja (the source of the Nile). We are relaxing in the sun and getting ready for the crazyness of India. We are flying into Delhi then making our way down to Goa for 2 weeks to hang out with my mum and dad. Then we are off to Kolkata to start work again.

I hope everyone is well and happy. Sorry the photos have been few and far between. I will try to upload some soon. Also sorry individual emails have been thin on the ground. Time is running away with me but I shall sort it out! Lots of love xxx

Goodbyes and Combyar

Our last few days volunteering in Uganda have been pretty sad. I can’t believe we’ve done here! We have our last HIV workshop tomorrow. I will be especially sad to finish that as I have worked so hard. I just hope The Youth League will carry on with the workshops as they have become very good and popular in the Mukono County. I’m sure they will.

We had our last days at the school this week. We had a sports day which was so much fun. There were sack races, crab races, balancing Frisbees on the head race and all sorts. The kids loved it! I’ve never seen them smile so much. At the end we gave them sweets they were so polite. It was a different story with the teachers though. I offered them one and they grabbed the whole bag. They were practically fighting over then. Then they wanted to chocolate that the winning teams were eating. It was so strange and I had to take them away. I think its because volunteers must bring sweets for the kids but never for them. It was a weird experience. Being here really has been a huge eye opener in every way. I’m getting slightly nervous about India program, as here has been so good. We’ll see!

Last night we went to one of our teachers’ mothers’ house. He’s been asking us to go for ages so last night we went. The house was gorgeous. It was so cosy with the first carpet and TV I’ve seen in Uganda. His mother was a head teacher of another school. She was so lovely. They made us African Tea and bread. It turns out she was hoping we would go and work for her school but unfortunately we have run out of time. She was saying how she is a Girl Guides leader and I slipped in that I used to be a brownie and a guide for a while (big mistake!). Well that was it, she had the flag out, photos, even the guides motto! When it was time for us to go she made us stand in a circle holding hands. Then Sebastian (the teacher at our school) sang ‘combyar’ (excuse spelling if wrong) and we had to join in. It was soo funny and I had to stop myself from laughing. I felt terrible but it was such a random situation I couldn’t help but laugh! They were so lovely though and it was definitely an experience I will not forget in a hurry!

I now have to go as we are still working on last bits and bobs for the organization ands it’s starting to get late. The Queen is visiting Uganda in a few weeks and they are frantically clearing the place up. This means it takes hours to get home from Kampala. Some people here still think I know her personally even though I’ve told them I don’t, one person asked if I could tell her to visit Mukono!

Love Amy xxx

A big catch up post

Hello! Wow it’s been a long time since I wrote. Well the bats came back… lots of them, but we eventually got it sorted, we taped up the hole they were getting through, this meant they had no way of getting out so they all died. I felt a bit sorry for them because all night you’d hear them dropping dead.. It was horrible, even now we hear the odd one drop dead. I just dread to think how it’s going to smell in a few weeks to come. Luckily we’ll be gone by then! We have only 2 weeks left to volunteer before James’ mum comes to visit. We are getting excited actually as the volunteering has been pretty intense and were looking forward to the break. We have 5 weeks off before volunteering again in India.

James and I have both had the flu since I last wrote, it was horrible! It was like at home but twice as bad as were not used to the Ugandan bugs. We are fighting fit again now though (just about!).

We have been teaching quite a lot over the last few weeks and it’s been loads of fun. The kids are awesome. We had another volunteer who was a professional dancer so I got her to come along to the school and teach the kids, they loved it! We have also been continuing with the HIV awareness outreach program in schools. It’s going a lot better than I anticipated. The kids/ young adults are really getting into it. They ask so many interesting questions, questions that I haven’t even thought of. I am learning loads from them, it’s definitely getting me ready for my social work course!

We are now wrapping everything up and making sure all our work is getting passed on to new volunteers and locals who want to keep it running when we leave. The thought of leaving is sad but at the same time I feel there is not a great deal more we can do for the organization as we have no more time left… Oh but we are organizing a sports day for our last day in school. I’m looking forward to that as the kids don’t really do any exercise. They spend the majority of their time repeating what the teachers say to them. Today we were doing ‘Art’ with the really young kids (we don’t normally teach them but they asked us last week if we could do one lesson with them as apparently they keep asking the teachers) James was telling them to write their name on their own drawing. He did an example on the board and wrote his own name. When we took all the pictures in they all had James’ name written on them! Bless them; however it shows they just copy and don’t actually understand what you’re saying!

Last Saturday we went white water rafting on the Nile.. It was ace! I only did to grade 3 as I was on the ‘mild’ boat. James did to level 5 which was the ‘wild’ boat. I thought.. sod that there’s no way your getting me on that. We managed not to flip on a rapid and I was soo pleased as I had almost drowned on the practice flip! There were 11 of us from GVN doing and I was sat on a boat with some of the women from the Guesthouse.. We had just had lunch and were about to go down a grade 3 and another volunteer turned to me and was like, Amy.. Do I have anything in my teeth? I was like WHAT? Were just about to hold on for dear life are you really that concerned! ..It was so funny and such a good day, I would recommend it to anyone passing by Uganda!

Right there is so much more I could go on about but I haven’t had a good working computer with internet in a while so I’m going to leave it here. I hope everyone is well, thanks for the messages you’ve been leaving too. Its nice to get them! Amy xx

Bat to School

Hello! Hope everyone’s well. We are well and have had a good week. We started school! It was well exciting going in with our pencil cases.

On the first day all the teachers were there but only about 5 kids turned up! Imagine that at the first day back in the UK! The teachers were like, ‘yeah this happens a lot, they’ll all be here by Friday’. So, on the Tuesday there were a few more. We had around 10 in each class. I taught P5 and P6 English and James taught Science. It was loads of fun but I was pretty worried about having to correct their spelling as I can’t spell myself! It was fine though. I asked the students to write me letters telling me about themselves. Some were so sad, telling me they were orphans because of AIDS. Others were writing I love teacher Amy, I want to be friends with her family! It was sweet.

On Thursday we went to a different school in Mukono to do some outreach work. We gave a talk to 200 kids about HIV. We tried to make it fun. We acted out a drama on how HIV works in the body. It went really well. It was me, James, Frank and Kayiira!(ill put some photos up of that soon) It was loads of fun. Then we played true or false games with them. At the end they were asking loads of questions which felt good because it meant they had been listening. One student asked us if HIV had been invented to kill all Africans… I didn’t know what to say, I was pretty taken back by it. We explained that anyone can get it, even white people. Then they were shocked, even the teachers were like, really??

Yesterday we went to Jinja to Interview more of the Pik Tek women (women who make the beads). This time it was women who had fled from the north. Again their stories were fascinating. I enjoy working with these women, they tell you a lot about life in Uganda.

Then in the evening it was the most surreal night ever. We were sat chilling out in the guesthouse, there were around 7 other volunteers and us. We were just chatting when a bat flew in. I was pretty scared but Esther (the house manager) caught it (after about an hour of it flying round the living room). Then.. 10 more flew in. It was terrifying; it felt like something out of a teen horror film. Esther and James ended up killing them all with brooms. Esther was like, this has never happened before it’s so strange. I wouldn’t come out of my room, I was such a wimp but it was sooo horrible! We think what happened is that they normally live up in the roof minding their own business but that day someone decided to smoke them out so they had all flown into our house.. Nice! I just hope it doesn’t happen tonight otherwise I’m not coming out from under my mozzie net! I think Esther said they were going to poison them or something.

So that was our eventful week. The internet has been pretty poor recently so I haven’t had chance to upload photos.. I’m going to try it now so fingers crossed! Love Amy xxx

Kitgum

Wow. I don’t know where to start. We have had an amazing and extremely interesting weekend. We went to Kitgum, this place has suffered a great deal form the rebel war. We went with a local lady who wanted us to conduct some interviews with the children and their families for a sponsorship program that the organisation we are here with are running. It was so hot all weekend and we sat under a tree and interviewed about 10 – 15 different families about their lives and the way they live. This was to go on the website to try and gain sponsorship for the children so they can continue schooling.

The first person we interviewed was 19. He sat down with us and I was just not prepared for his story at all. He started to tell us (through a translator) how he lived at home with his mother and father and 3 younger siblings. When the war broke out rebels came into his home and killed his father with a machete right in front of them all. They abducted him and took him into the bush. He was taken for 2 years and trained to kill. He was then taken back to the local villages (where his mothers and sisters were still living) and was told/brainwashed into killing everyone there.

After 2 years, one day in the middle of an ambush he escaped. He ran miles to get back to his old village, when he got there it was deserted. Eventually he was picked up by World Vision (an NGO working in Kitgum) who housed him and rehabilitated him. His mother and sisters were thankfully found and they were reunited. Shortly after his mother became unwell and died. He was then left to support the family. They have been living in an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp and have been living on food supplied by the World Food Program. As he was abducted when he was 14 he did not finish school and has had no vocational training. This sponsorship program will hopefully help him pay the younger children’s school fees and allow him to do some vocational training so he can provide for his family.

He was not the only one with a story, each family had there own story to tell about the war and how it affected them. It was harrowing. They all live in hope that the peace agreement will work out and it will stay peaceful. It was amazing to see how positive these people are after everything that they have been through.

After the interviewing I sat with the mothers and they showed me how to make jewelry out of paper. It was fascinating and lots of fun. This is the way they make there living. They roll the paper into beads and thread them on string. They are absolutely gorgeous and of course I had to buy some to bring home!

We then went to visit a disabled children’s home where one of the volunteers are working. This was run by a nun. She was an inspiring woman who had set up the home on her own and with donations from local organizations. There were around 200 children living there. However we were there in the school holidays and there were only 10 students there. These were children whose parents and not turned up to pick them up. So they stayed there.

We spent a lot of time with 2 local guys who were family members of Rose (the lady we went with). They took us to one of the IDP camps. People were practically living on top of each other. Apparently there were quite often outbreaks of cholera, you can see how when one person goes down with it, they all do. There were so many NGO vans buzzing around and the guys were telling us, they are now working on sending people back to their villages. The only problem is, people have lived in the IDP camps for so long they have nothing to go back too. Plus they have been living off food from the World Food Program for so long they have not got there own means of buying food. It is such a difficult situation for everyone involved. It makes me think about Darfur and the whole crisis there and what the aftermath will be like for Sudan.

I could talk for ages about what we saw, but I won’t go on any longer. We came back yesterday and have not been able to think of much else.

There are 12 new volunteers coming on sat for the start of the school term. That will be interesting as James and I are used to it being pretty chilled in the guest house. It has been raining a lot today which is kind of nice, it means it’s been cooler and makes me think of home!

Amy xxx

The Hairy Lemon and Royal Ascot Goat Races...

Hello!
I hope everyone is well.
It’s been a while since I last wrote so I’ll try and remember what we’ve been up to!

It was James’ birthday on the 26^th so we went for the weekend to Jinja. (The source of the Nile). We played golf, which James was very happy about. I was pretty rubbish (although in my defense I have not played before and it was baking hot.) From there we went to a place called the ‘Hairy Lemon’. It’s a good little getaway on its own little island. To get there you have to get 2 taxis and a boda. The boda then drops you at a random little hut infront of the river where there is a wheel hub and a stick. You have to bang on the hub and wait. We were waiting for about 15 minutes not really knowing what to expect. Then a guy in a little boat came paddling across the river to collect us. It was like something out of a film! When we got over to the Island there were a few people there who looked like they had been there years. It suddenly reminded me of the book/film ‘The Beach’. I got a bit scared incase it was some crazy cult in the middle of Uganda where you can’t leave. But luckily for us it wasn’t it was just a hide away with a couple of other travelers! They were all very nice and pretty sane. So we hung out there for the weekend, relaxed by the ‘beach’ and swam in the Nile. (A part where you are allowed to swim).

Then this week has been interesting, if not a little odd. At the beginning of the week I was a bit unwell. Luckily I am feeling much better now. Apparently it was an African sore throat and my body was just not used to it and decided to go crazy. But it’s under control now! Thankfully.

We visited a village, one that we have been to before and gave an HIV awareness workshop. This time we went back with the Uganda Red Cross to do some HIV testing and blood donating. It was very interesting. We got there and The Red Cross set up shop in the middle of the village. It was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between the way things are done here and the way things are done at home. I got talking to one of the men who work at The Red Cross and it turns out he has his own radio show and talks about issues that are troubling the youth in Uganda. Issues such as HIV and other STI’s, getting jobs, school work and family problems. I thought it sounded really interesting and asked if we could go along to visit! (You’ve got to ask these things eh). He seemed really keen so hopefully were going up to visit the studios soon. I am also going to try and link The Youth League with them and hopefully that way The Youth League will be able to tell people what they are about and also give a series of the ‘Staying healthy when HIV+’ talks. So we will see what happens there!

The rest of the week consisted of going back to Kampala to visit the US embassy, to apply for funding. Again we have another huge proposal to write so were keeping ourselves busy!

Then yesterday we did the most random thing ever! We went to an event called ‘The Royal Ascot Goat Races! It was hilarious. People were there in ball gowns and suits and all had huge hats like you see at the races in Cheltenham! Suddenly for the day we were transported out of Uganda into some crazy posh world full of money and power. It appeared to be a place where a lot of the Ugandan businesses conducted their big deals! The British High commissioner was there presenting awards to the winning goats! He was a picture. So unbelievably, stereotypically British!

The other crazy thing about it was that the goats clearly had no idea what was going on. They were getting distracted by the smell of food and shitting on the course! I did start to think it was a bit cruel and decided to lay off the betting. Instead I sat on the edge of Lake Victoria and enjoyed the View. It was beautiful.

After all that excitement a few new volunteers came. We had a bit of a welcome part in the guesthouse. There were about 15 of us, it was cool to hang out and talk to everyone. Some people are from USA, one from Belgium, one from Peru, a couple from Canada and of course some from Uganda. It was just nice to chat to everyone from around the world. I realised I have not really had that chance before.

It is coming to the beginning of term now so we are getting ready to start teaching. I’m looking forward to it and have stocked up on some supplies such as books and pens and teaching materials for the school (courtesy of peoples donations, thank you so much!). Again I hope every one is well, it’s so nice to hear from people so keep messaging me!

Goodbye for now xxx

Birthday celebrations and stories

Heyho, this last week has again been very busy. It was my birthday on Monday so we spent the whole weekend celebrating which was ace. We went to Kampala for the first time which I loved. We visited the craft markets (one of the reasons why I loved it!) and also sat and drank coffee and ate really good cake. We also had a HOT running shower and toilet! We went along to a hotel to see some Ugandan dancing which blew me away, these people can shake their ass!

As for work, I have been compiling an HIV resource file for The Youth League for when we go into the villages to do workshops. The workshops are good but I feel we are not offering enough information on how to stay healthy. So i now am in the middle of producing food charts and all sorts so its good fun. Yesterday we also spent the day in Kampala (this time not just for fun). We were going round the embassy’s asking for funding for The Youth League. The British Embassy were like…. “What you want money… from us?? We do not do that type of thing I can tell you now”. We were like, nice thanks! The Belgium and French embassies were a little friendlier, so were in the process (well James is) in the process of writing some funding proposals for them. We also visited The British Council which were friendly but said no, and DFID (Department for International Development) who said mmmmm we’ll see. This, from my experience means no! It was a very busy day and I was covered in head to toe red dust by the end of it!

Today we have put on another HIV workshop. This generally happens twice a week now and each time I feel there getting better so that’s good. On our way back from the Village about 3 police cars speeded past and then another one came and stopped the taxi, at first I was pretty scared. Then about 4 army trucks came past with soldiers holding the biggest guns you’ve ever seen. I was like “what the hell’s going on?” Kayiira laughed at me and was like “chill out nyabo (madam) it’s the president!”… And it was, with a huge entourage of about 20 army trucks, 2 ambulances, a caravan, 10 police cars and then him in the middle waving! It was mad. The whole of Mukono stopped for at least half an hour. James was like.. “Do you think he’s paranoid?” . The feeling we get here is that he’s not liked much.

We have been without power for most of the nights this week which means being sat with a candle and not really doing a lot. I have been reading an amazing book called 28 stories of AIDS in Africa. It is one story for every one million people living with HIV in Africa. (Or so they have estimated). The stories are about individuals and their life. Last night I was reading about a truck driver who drives from Mombassa in Kenya through Uganda to Rwanda. This journey takes him a long time and every night he stops and sleeps with a prostitute (without protection). He is now HIV+. The reason I am telling this story is that we live on Jinja road which is the main road through Uganda, every night when we are sat in the dark we can see flashing lights from the convoy of trucks that pass through. It has made me realise just how real this story is. Also the estimated number of 28 million is so high but when we meet people in the villages so many have not been tested, so that number could be so much higher, and its weird to think just 30-40 years ago people had never even heard of HIV or AIDS.

Anyway I didn’t mean to write for so long, it’s just so full on here and nice to talk about it! Me and James are heading home now, we will probably play some cards and I will avoid going to the latrine until I really have too! Hope every one is well. Amy xxx

Sipi Falls and Village fun

Hello! We have had a really busy week or so and have had no time to use the internet. It’s been great. At the end of last week we gave our first “empowerment” workshop on proposal writing. That went really well considering we don’t know much about it ourselves! We did some research and presented it to around 20 teachers and headmasters. They praised us on our teaching so that was positive.

At the weekend we went over to the Kenyan border (but still in Uganda) and visited a place called Sipi falls. It was gorgeous, with 3 main falls. There were 7 of us and it was great to see a different part of Uganda. It was so green and quite cold! We went on a 5 hour trek which was hard core (it was meant to be 4 but we were pretty slow), I was helped up most of the way by a local boy, he was pulling me trying to make me go faster, then charged me at the end! Ha! I found it quite funny really and probably couldn’t have done it without him.

This week we spent the first couple of days in a village called an hour outside of Mukono. We were there to help to lay the foundations for a new classroom. It involved a lot of digging. It was mainly the mothers of the children that turned up to help. That is something I have noticed in Uganda, the women do most of the manual work. It may not be true all over Uganda but it’s definitely the feeling I’m getting here. Every time I had a go at digging all the locals were laughing at me. When I asked Frank why he said they didn’t think mazungu’s worked that hard, so then I felt I had to show them I could and now I am in pain.. with blisters! On the second day we ran an educational session on HIV awareness to all the parents. It went really well and they were asking so many questions. Some were really good questions but quite scary. It made me realise how important The Youth League’s work is. We are going back to the Village in 2 weeks time with the Ugandan Red Cross to do some HIV testing. Almost 30 people put there name’s down to be tested so hopefully most people will turn up.

It was fun in the Village but hard work. We stayed with the headmaster and his wife and about 8 kids. I was pleased to get back to the guest house to have some space. Today we have been working on a blogsite for the organization. (I’ll put a link from mine when it’s done) and also applying for funding. It’s quite a relaxing day before we go off to another village tomorrow.
Amy xx

A week has passed already

Wow, the week has flown by! I feel like we have done so much. We visited a village by Lake Victoria at the weekend where another volunteer has been staying. It was his leaving party. It was gorgeous, we were so welcomed, there were so many speeches and thank yous to the volunteer organisation which was good to see. The volunteer had donated a generator so the local school have power there for the first time. The children were amazed, there was music and we danced all night. It was so nice to see teachers and children all dancing and having fun together, that would never have happened at my school! All the volunteers that went along slept in Daragh's room (the volunteer that lived there) there was 6 of us and in the middle of the night we all heard something that sounded like some kind of animal in the house. In the morning we came to the conclusion it was probably a rat! Uuurgh, I'm glad i didn't see it thats all i can say, we were on the floor!

So this week the work has been interesting. Yesterday we visited a children's home/hospital where children go when they have 'club foot' or when there legs aren't straight. They are operated on there. Or also if they have a cleft lip. We were having a meeting about creating a partnership with them. This is because when the youth league visit many of the villages, there are a lot of children who cannot walk, therefore people see them as useless. It is so sad to see. They believe it is down to malnutrition. The families ask if there is anything that can be done and now The Youth League have formed a partnership with the Hospital and they can take them there. It is a huge step for The Youth League and the communities they work with.

Today we went to a village about 15 km outside of Mukono. A village where the majority of people are HIV+. This is all the people know, they know next to nothing about what that actually means for them. I gave my first talk on what is HIV, how can you become infected. myths of infection, ways to prevent infection and how to stay healthy when HIV+. It went very well, i spoke and Kayiira translated it to Luganda. They asked many questions so it that made it feel very worth while. The majority of the adults were so worried about what would happen to there children when they die. This is where The Youth League are trying to set up another Orphanage/School. They are looking for funding at the moment so i think it will be a while.

I have shown Frank and Kayiira my resources on HIV and they are asking me to make a resource file for their office. They were excited as when they showed me there resources it was literally an A4 page.

So things are going well. I am slowly putting photos up but it takes about 10mins to do each (and thats no exaggeration! So more will come.

I hope everyone is fine and well. Amy x

first few days

Hey All.
So we arrived safe and sound after what felt like a pretty long flight. We were picked up by our volunteer coordinator who was the most laid back American woman ever. I thought if this was what Ugandan life's going to be like, I'll be happy with that!
We met all the other volunteers who seem really nice and have so many stories, a lot of them left today and a load more will be coming in a few weeks so that's cool. We have a next door neighbour Natalie who is gorgeous and is constantly at the guesthouse, she has been teaching us Luganda (she's 6!)
We were taken on a guide of Mukono town and had introductions to so many different people there is no way I'll remember names!

We then met the project managers of The Youth League Organisation, they are wonderful and their names i do remember. Frank and Kayiira. They took us through what we will be involved with for the next 3 months and it sounded so interesting. However I'm not sure how organised it all is but we shall see! James will be doing some policy writing and i will be helping put together an HIV awareness training programme for many of the farmers in the surrounding villages. These farmers, men and women are HIV+ and fear everyday they will die. So the programme will be about changing attitudes and giving basic information on HIV and AIDS.

We will also be teaching in a local school called Divine Mercy but at the moment the children are having their exams, then 3 weeks holiday, so that will not be for the next month. I'm glad because it gives us time to settle into the other work first. We did visit the school the other day and everyone was so nice. The teachers were so welcoming and the children were so cute, all staring at us whilst eating their porridge.

Frank and Kayiira took us for a welcoming dinner which consisted of Matakoo (excuse spelling) which is mashed plantain, rice, some kind of vegetable but I'm not sure what! Potato, ground peanut and also chicken soup. It was very nice but there was so much of it. I know i like my food but i just couldn't eat it all! They said i had a muzungu stomach (which means white persons stomach) They also said by the end i will be able to eat the whole plate and more. (i thought i hope not for my sake!)

So were so pleased to be hear and can feel it becoming like home already, there's still a few things I'm getting used to, like being woken at night by dogs and also the toilet at the guesthouse. But that's a whole other story altogether, (it makes Glastonbury pitts look like a palace!) I'm sure I'll get used to it though...

take care, Amy xxx