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