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