Renate on her first 4 weeks in Uganda

Four weeks ago we were approaching the dimly lit Kampala airport after a great flight and it's hard to believe time has passed so quickly.  We seem to have been on the go non-stop and are only just coming up for air.

Our In Country Training took place at the VSO Programme office in the ‘Banda’ - a large thatched roof with open sides all round. It was so good to be back in Africa and I kept filling up with sheer joy as memories of my early childhood in the 1950s in Venda in the far northern part of South Africa, near the Zimbabwean Border, were vividly recalled - the heat, the bright light, the red soil, the tropical down pours, the lush green vegetation and familiar plants and birds.

To be in a place where ‘Muzungus’ (white people) are in a minority also reminded me of life on mission stations where we mixed freely with local people and life moved at a relaxed pace. What a treat and a joy to experience something of that again after almost 40 years in England.

Having said that Kampala could not be more different - a sprawling city, bustling with hundreds if not thousands of white minibus taxis all blowing their horns as they compete for space with boda-bodas (small motorbikes that take passengers), cyclists, pedestrians, special hire taxis (private saloon cars) and huge 4x4s.

A "Google Earth" view of Kampala's taxi park - the little white shapes are all taxis!!

May seem like chaos to us, but it works! And up the road from where we were being trained is a huge Italian Super Market that sells everything, including delicious ice cream in many yummy flavours and dozens of different types of pasta and pesto!  So the differences to the Venda district of South Africa are just as stark as the similarities are noticeable!

We really like our spacious flat in a relatively quiet part of Kampala and love sitting on our balcony in the evenings overlooking a narrow green valley. Down side is that it is quite far from the centre and from other volunteers except for the 2 living in the same block.

The first week was tough as Ian started work right away on the Monday. Our flat only had a bed and a three piece suite in it. The temptation was to rush out and buy all sorts, the challenge to get simple tasks done with little or no equipment. How to dry dripping hand washed laundry in the pouring rain without hooks, hangers, airers, rope or hooks? Leave it out in the rain, of course, or put it on the floor, which I did in our empty spare bedroom after sweeping up the fine red dust that covers everything.

Enjoying our kitchen in the amazing flat that we have

Going shopping was also a challenge as £1 = 3,000 Ugandan Shillings! Before venturing out, I wrote down what coins (in 100, 200 and 500 Shilling denominations) I had and went without any notion of what anything might cost. Most people speak English and are happy to wait patiently while we sort the cash out.  I bought food locally and was gutted when it went off so quickly. I soon learned I had to go out everyday and buy just 2 bananas, 2 tomatoes, a small bunch of greens. This is obvious but I’m used to a weekly shop and being a full-time housewife is also a new experience. We have succumbed to getting a fridge and are generally better equipped now. I’m now in a routine of boiling water, filtering it, washing smalls by hand, going out shopping, go to the air-conditioned internet cafe and have even managed to soak beans overnight and make a bean dish!

A lovely woman called Sarah, a Ugandan who was a VSO volunteer in Zambia asked me to help her with funding applications for a new organisation she is setting up to tackle the problem of jiggers in a district east of Kampala. Jiggers are parasites (worms) that burrow under the skin in toes, feet and fingers, where they multiply and spread causing severe pain and in extreme cases the loss of digits. In the absence of adequate health care in this very poor rural area, unsterilised, shared needles are used to remove the jiggers and in so doing spread jiggers and HIV/AIDS. People with jiggers are outcast and live in abject poverty.

The project has a clear vision and the aim is to tackle the poverty in a holistic way, but securing initial funding for a brand new organisation is well nigh impossible. I doubt I can be of much use as I have no idea (yet) what grant aid, if any, is available here in Uganda. In the mean time, it's been a real pleasure meeting up with the applicant on a number of occasions, usually in a cafe and having lunch together.  I've learnt a huge amount from her and she's been friendly and looking after me.  

Thinking of starting to ask around for voluntary work, although I've enjoyed being at home and as we have met quite a few other volunteers and been out and about quite a bit, there's been no time to get bored or lonely, so that is very good.

Over to Ian to post this on our blog. I want to learn how to import photos how to use our Christmas and leaving gifts: short wave radio, my electronic reader, e-photo frame and Ian's sophisticated lap top!  Crazy - come to Africa and move into the 21st century!

Love to family and friends - you are often in my thoughts.

Writing this post on the balcony tonight

The friendly supermarket in Ntinda where we get stuff we need

I have been spending a fair bit of time here in Ntinda's Internet cafe during the day researching the information that Sarah needs for her fund raising bids

Today is 21 March - the Spring Equinox - the day when the sun is directly overhead at the Equator (just down the road!) - but we had cloud cover at midday - so you'll have to imagine the shadow right underneath me!