Uganda
We're in Mukono, a town in Southern Uganda near Lake Victoria and the capital, Kampala. We're in an internet cafe running on a generator, as the power is off again. It works in shifts - one day off, one day on!
We've been 'volunteering' with a charity organisation, visiting the poor villages and the school that the organisation has set up. The people are really friendly - they don't see many white people so they stare at us and wave, and all the children shout "Bye Mzungu" at us (for them, 'bye' is just like hello, they say it when they wave) and get very excited! The people in the villages are very poor and most don't have access to clean water. They don't go to school because they can't afford it (you have to pay here because the government cannot afford to send all the children to school for free). They have few clothes, and most of them wear torn and dirty clothes every day. But they LOVE their football here, and they're really good. They all support either Manchester United or Arsenal, or maybe Chelsea or Liverpool, but they love watching the Premiership games on the TVs in the bars in towns. And despite having very little in the towns and villages, Coca Cola and Fanta is everywhere. The school, for orphans (because often of AIDS) and their adult guardians, is very very basic, just a building of 3 rooms without real windows or doors, and without cement on the dirt floor. There are benches and desks, but they're a bit fragile, and there is a big blackboard (not very black). We 'helped' with a few lessons about HIV/AIDS (which infects about 55% of people in the villages, maybe more) and general hygiene (like washing fruit before eating it, always boiling water, using latrines not just going out in the bush, washing your hands - and why) and how to make a rehydration solution in cases of diarrhoea and diseases.
We're staying in a compound with security guards, we've got a rended 'house' with two rooms, pretty basic but good for Uganda. We haven't got running water and it all has to be boiled I think, and we have to have bucket baths! Hehe. There are a few families in the compound renting their accomodation because they can't afford houses, mostly young families whose young wives and children stay at home while their husbands work. The woman, Salama, whose husband owns the compound is perhaps 30, her husband is nearly 60. She has an amazing story - they are from northern Uganda, where there has been war for perhaps 20 years between the government and the Lords Resistance Army (brutal), and her father died in the war. Her mother left her children, so they went with their Aunt. A man from America, not sure of his position but I think he was visiting to see the conflict, wanted to take her to America to help her, but her Aunt was jealous and did not let him. Salama thinks she betrayed her. Instead, her Aunt arranged for her to marry a family friend who Salama had grown up knowing as her Uncle. Salama was desperate, so she had to accept. The man was a soldier and had little, but it was her only option to get away from her Aunt. Fortunately her husband was promoted a few times they have done ok, but it is a marriage of convenience, and she is only with him still because without him she would have nothing, and she wants the best for her children. They have separate rooms, and her husband is rarely at home, even though he has the time to be at home.
We're under the care of a great guy called Travis, who has been taking us round and keeping us fed! We've been on motorcycle taxis (boda-bodas), great fun! And we've been eating local food - 'matokee' (cooked unripe bananas, really good), 'posho' (can't remember what it is, I think sweet potato or maize mush), 'muoga' (cassava, really tasty), baked beans, rice, chapatis rolled in omelettes, bean samosas, and Tash gets meat (often goat but sometimes cow). It's usually washed down with African tea - 'chai' - which means any hot drink flavoured with some dried leaves, not necessarily tea leaves, often cinnamon I think, or coffee. I like the diluted hot milk with cinnamon stuff, and its always served with lots of sugar! We've also had maize porridge, mmm. The people here are great cooks, we're being spoilt!
We've been 'volunteering' with a charity organisation, visiting the poor villages and the school that the organisation has set up. The people are really friendly - they don't see many white people so they stare at us and wave, and all the children shout "Bye Mzungu" at us (for them, 'bye' is just like hello, they say it when they wave) and get very excited! The people in the villages are very poor and most don't have access to clean water. They don't go to school because they can't afford it (you have to pay here because the government cannot afford to send all the children to school for free). They have few clothes, and most of them wear torn and dirty clothes every day. But they LOVE their football here, and they're really good. They all support either Manchester United or Arsenal, or maybe Chelsea or Liverpool, but they love watching the Premiership games on the TVs in the bars in towns. And despite having very little in the towns and villages, Coca Cola and Fanta is everywhere. The school, for orphans (because often of AIDS) and their adult guardians, is very very basic, just a building of 3 rooms without real windows or doors, and without cement on the dirt floor. There are benches and desks, but they're a bit fragile, and there is a big blackboard (not very black). We 'helped' with a few lessons about HIV/AIDS (which infects about 55% of people in the villages, maybe more) and general hygiene (like washing fruit before eating it, always boiling water, using latrines not just going out in the bush, washing your hands - and why) and how to make a rehydration solution in cases of diarrhoea and diseases.
We're staying in a compound with security guards, we've got a rended 'house' with two rooms, pretty basic but good for Uganda. We haven't got running water and it all has to be boiled I think, and we have to have bucket baths! Hehe. There are a few families in the compound renting their accomodation because they can't afford houses, mostly young families whose young wives and children stay at home while their husbands work. The woman, Salama, whose husband owns the compound is perhaps 30, her husband is nearly 60. She has an amazing story - they are from northern Uganda, where there has been war for perhaps 20 years between the government and the Lords Resistance Army (brutal), and her father died in the war. Her mother left her children, so they went with their Aunt. A man from America, not sure of his position but I think he was visiting to see the conflict, wanted to take her to America to help her, but her Aunt was jealous and did not let him. Salama thinks she betrayed her. Instead, her Aunt arranged for her to marry a family friend who Salama had grown up knowing as her Uncle. Salama was desperate, so she had to accept. The man was a soldier and had little, but it was her only option to get away from her Aunt. Fortunately her husband was promoted a few times they have done ok, but it is a marriage of convenience, and she is only with him still because without him she would have nothing, and she wants the best for her children. They have separate rooms, and her husband is rarely at home, even though he has the time to be at home.
We're under the care of a great guy called Travis, who has been taking us round and keeping us fed! We've been on motorcycle taxis (boda-bodas), great fun! And we've been eating local food - 'matokee' (cooked unripe bananas, really good), 'posho' (can't remember what it is, I think sweet potato or maize mush), 'muoga' (cassava, really tasty), baked beans, rice, chapatis rolled in omelettes, bean samosas, and Tash gets meat (often goat but sometimes cow). It's usually washed down with African tea - 'chai' - which means any hot drink flavoured with some dried leaves, not necessarily tea leaves, often cinnamon I think, or coffee. I like the diluted hot milk with cinnamon stuff, and its always served with lots of sugar! We've also had maize porridge, mmm. The people here are great cooks, we're being spoilt!
posted by Lucy at
11:44 am
