Family get together

Renate and Ian enjoyed a brilliant finale to 2010 when Laura and Shola and Matt and Holly made the journey to Kampala to celebrate a family Christmas with a difference - on Safari at Murchison Falls on the River Nile! The photographs shown in this post are just a sample from the 1450 photographs that we managed to take between us!
After Matt and Holly arrived at Entebbe airport on the Saturday before Christmas we all stayed over in this lovely town on the shore of Lake Victoria and next day went to the Botanical Gardens - which as well as brilliant trees and flowering shrubs has a resident population of vervet monkeys
Who like to be fed pop corn - the monkeys store any un-eaten pop corn in their cheeks and then chew it some more when they are feeling a bit peckish
Just the bluest balls you have ever seen - they go this colour during the breeding season and signifies that the little fella is really up for it!
After Entebbe we made the journey east from Kampala to Jinja and the source of the River Nile - here's the group with Joseph who drove our boat from the Kingfisher resort where we stayed - Renate's missing as she took the picture
The Kingfisher resort on Lake Victoria - just a few hundred metres from where the Nile River begins its 4000 mile journey from Lake Victoria to Alexandria in Egypt - the guides at the Source of the Nile say that it takes the water from Lake Victoria 90 days to make the journey to the Med.
Shola doing his best to hide from the camera in the craft shop on the island next to the Source of the Nile
On Christmas Eve we travelled 200 miles from Kampala to Murchison Falls - a magnificent water fall on the River Nile, and in a national park that takes its name from the Falls. This photograph shows the Nile bursting through the narrow gorge at the top of the Falls
From the top of the Falls it took us another hour to drive the 15 miles to the tented camp where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Night
Early on Christmas morning - 7.00 am - we took a ferry across the Nile to go on a game drive through the national Park and this giraffe was happy to welcome us
The giraffes in the park were amazing and this little baby was temporarily separated from its mother - we think a reunion took place soon after
A large collective intake of breath as we saw this lioness - there were three or four minibuses full of Christmas Day tourists looking on but she didn't give any of us a moment's attention.
Matt bursting into the background of this portrait of Laura and Shola
After a Christmas Dinner of (for Ian) of beans and chapattis, we hopped onto a boat for a 2 to 3 hour trip up the Nile to the base of the Falls
Soon we were watching a group of elephants making short work of a clutch of bushes and small trees on the River bank
It was the breeding season for crocodiles and this beast is lying on its eggs - it hardly moves while it does this although our guide did caution that if we jumped close to its head we would see a flash of movement!
And finally we made it to within 400 metres of the base of the falls - the 'suds' are (again according to a guide) organic pollution generated by plant and animal waste
And if you are cruising gently down the Nile having been to the base of the Falls what do you drink? Nile Special of course!
The happy team enjoying their starters before tucking into a Christmas Night BBQ organised at the campsite. Note the paper hats - Holly brought six crackers with her from Manchester so that we could capture a bit of the Christmas 'Spirit'.

Not captured on camera by any of us was a hippo that came up from the river, waddled right through the campsite, past the BBQ and camp fire, to munch the grass that was growing around our tents. Laura and Shola were woken at 2.30 on Boxing Day morning by the loud sound of munching and they could see a huge 'hippo shape' through the tent's window. As if this wasn't bad enough some especially 'sensitive' American tourists thought this was the moment to take their 'Facebook Photo' and so flash guns went off - further scaring the living daylights out of Shola and Laura. At every turn we were advised NOT to shine a torch or use flash photography at hippos - they don't like it and can react unpredictably.
Fortunately no unpredictable behaviour was forthcoming and Shola and Laura are still in one piece. You'll not be surprised to hear that Laura exchanged spicy words a bit later on with our north American 'cousins' - about which, more later!
On our way back to Kampala on Boxing Day we had arranged to call in at the ZIWA Rhino Sanctuary. Because of poaching and civil war Uganda's rhino population was wiped out in the 70s and 80s. Now this sanctuary is beginning the task of reintroducing white rhinos from other countries - Kenya and South Africa (and also from the Disney Animal Kingdom) - to safe habitats in Uganda. Once the rhino population in the sanctuary is 'ready' they'll be transported to the Murchison Falls national park. The photograph is of Kawesa, our guide on our walk to see the rhinos - no safety in a big safari bus - a quieter and gentler approach on our two feet. Kawesa knows all the rhinos well and can look at a pile of rhino 'poo' and tell you which one dumped it! He told us that the rhinos have a great sense of smell and they know his 'smell' well - so although the rhinos will 'smell' strangers - it's OK if they are with Kawesa! Hugely reassuring to hear this! We got VERY CLOSE.
This photograph shows some of the north American tourist group that we had the pleasure of spending Christmas with. They gave Kawesa a hard time - they just didn't seem to get it that rhinos are dangerous animals - they wanted to get CLOSER to get that Facebook Photograph. We think Kawesa was badly hassled and if we had been allowed to raise our voices we probably would have. Anyway we congratulated Kawesa on the way he managed them - and commended his approach to his bosses later when we had lunch.
This experience with loutish, over-privileged, arrogant, demanding, white, tourists was a wake-up call for us and a reminder of what Ugandan Citizens sometimes have to put up with when show-casing their Country's natural wonders. If he had encouraged the rhinos to charge us all it would have been understandable!
A mother with 2 year old "Obama" - so called because mum is from America (Disney!) and dad is from Kenya!
This big beast was looking at us for a while and we started checking for trees to climb into - thankfully a few seconds after this photograph was taken he lay down and went back to sleep. Dry mouths as we walked back to have our lunch.

But a good way to end a memorable Christmas Family Get Together!

1st December - World AIDS Day

1 December is a big day in Uganda, and in other countries where HIV / AIDS touches so many lives. The celebration event was organised by the National Association of People Living with HIV / AIDS. VSO helped with some of the organising and sponsored T shirts and drinking water. Staff from the VSO Uganda Office along with several VSO volunteers took part in the celebrations and the march which preceded them. VSO staff and volunteers on the march
Young people from an organisation supported by the Most At Risk Populations (MARPs) Network which Ian works for
Here are the brilliant volunteers from Touch Namuwongo, the group that organised the community clean up that this blog reported on in September
The celebrations took place in a primary school on the outskirts of Kampala, here children from the school perform a song they had written for the day
An exhibition of art work produced by Kampala Senior Secondary School students
Renate and her friend Romaine, catching their breath after the two hour march - both have the catchy title of "non volunteering accompanying partners" - load of rubbish - both are busy volunteers - Renate with the donor mapping work she's doing for VSO Uganda and Romaine is busy helping out at a nursery school near where she lives teaching "Jollyphonics" and supporting other teachers in the school to teach it as well.

A great holiday with our friends David and Gina from Sheffield

It's been 9 months since Renate and Ian arrived in Uganda - a holiday was due and their good friends David and Gina from Sheffield came out to visit Uganda during the last two weeks of November. A journey taking in Kibale Forest and the Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda was undertaken! Here are some images from the holiday.David and Gina's first full day in Uganda was spent relaxing in Entebbe by Lake Victoria and the Botanical Gardens are home to a clutch of Vervet Monkeys - who like to be fed
This baby was just two days old
From the sublime quiet of the Botanical Gardens to the manic rush of Kampala's taxi park - needs to be seen to be believed!
The view from the cottage / tree house accommodation in Kibale Forest - the evening sun is catching the density of the forest trees
Here, Gina, Renate and David are with Julius the guide from the community project that manages the Bigodi Swamp near Kibale Forest - this wooden walkway is 300 metres long and was constructed by volunteers from the nearby village. 50% of tourist fees are used to pay for community development projects in the village.
Chimps grooming each other in Kibale Forest
The tree house in Bigodi Swamp provides a great place to view the Forest canopy
Also a good place to relax and have a laugh!
Mother and baby black and white Colobus monkeys at Bigodi
Here's a croc with his gob open at the Kazinga Channel which runs between Lake Edward and Lake George in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda. The croc's gob stayed open for all the time we were watching - at least five minutes!
A gorgeous Yellow-billed Stork at Kazinga Channel
Hippos wallowing in "glorious mud" in the Kazinga Channel
This is one seriously proud African Fish Eagle! . .
Moments later, he or she is flying over our heads with a catfish in its claw . . freshly caught!
The very graceful Ugandan Kob antelope in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Here are buffalos, Ugandan Kobs and Egyptian Geese
The wide open landscape of the Queen Elizabeth Park savannah with the Rwenzori Mountains behind - marking the edge of the western Rift Valley and the border with the Congo
Finally, just as breakfast was calling this lazy lion was spotted chilling in a tree - he was 200 to 250 metres away but our guide's amazing eye-sight spotted him

A visit to Annette's House

Annette and Edward take very good care of us in our compound of flats in Ntinda, Kampala - Edward is the caretaker and Annette, his partner, helps us with washing and cleaning. They have two children, Joshua and Joy - Joshua's four and Joy is coming up for two. Annette has been really keen for us to visit her Mum and Dad at her home in 'the village' 75 kilometres south west of Kampala. So a couple of weeks ago we set off with gifts of rice, paraffin and a framed photograph of Annette, Edward and the children which Ian took. Edward could not come with us as he has yet to be formally 'introduced' to Annette's parents - a serious custom that must be properly honoured. So one day, when Annette and Edward have the money there'll be an introduction party - and then he can go and visit!This is the picture that was framed for a present for Annette's Mum and Dad
It was a real privilege to meet Annette's family and they really went to town to entertain us - wrapping a chicken in banana leaves and putting it on to steam at 7.00 am - by the time we sat down at 2.30 pm it was tender, sweet and delicious. Annette's dad grows three different kinds of bananas - green one's for steaming, small sweet one's for eating straight after being peeled, and a kind that is more bitter that is used for making beer which, by all accounts, is quite lethal. He also tends coffee 'trees' and he struggles when the international price for coffee goes down a lot. Annette's dad is also really worried about climate change - during this rainy season which 'officially' started in September, there's only been two good days of rain at his land - this was at the end of October.
Annette's Mum and Dad, for all that their life is hard work, still make sure that they take care of each other and indeed of several other children who have been abandoned.
Here are some photographs taken on the visit.
Here's the family group with Annette's Mum and Dad standing between Renate and Annette. Joshua is in the front with the red shirt and Joy is in Brenda's arms on the right of the picture (she's the eldest at home)
Annette's got the children dancing in a groups and then . . .. . . all fall down!Annette joins in the dancing with Joy and Joshua - not sure they were too keen though!Renate admires a coffee tree

Sorry about the silence

It's been six weeks since our last post on the blog. Three reasons:
(1) Ian managed to catch a really nasty cold which laid him low - even had to have a week off work - when he did recover he's been busy catching up
(2) Things are coming to a head with fund-raising in Ian's placement and three key documents have had to be completed by Ian and Dr Geoffrey Mujisha (Ian's boss)- these are (i) a report of a nationwide consultation carried out with organizations working with most at-risk populations (in terms of HIV infection); (ii) a business plan for the MARPs Network; and (iii) a general funding proposal aimed at international donors
Finally (3) Renate and Ian set off on holiday today with first stop at Entebbe to meet their good friends David and Gina Hawkins who are coming to stay for two weeks in Uganda - so we've been rushing to get everything finished in time for holiday jollies.
This post is being written - after a swim and lovely dinner at the wonderful Boma Guest House in Entebbe (check it out - www.boma.co.ug) - we're bringing David and Gina back here tomorrow from their flight from Manchester.
Over the next two weeks we'll be visiting Kibale Forest in Western Uganda and will do chimp tracking and 'swamp walking' - then on to the Queen Elizabeth National Park where we'll have a game drive and a river safari - we'll be rounding the holiday off at a favourite haunt of ours - the source of the Nile at Jinja. We'll try and post piccies during the coming weeks.

Namuwongo Clean-Up

VSO volunteers in any given country are grouped into 'clusters' to enable them to meet and have a say in the way the VSO programme is run in the country. Each cluster is also allocated a sum of money (typically £250) to use in the organising of a community project - something that will be of benefit to the community in which the VSO volunteers are based and which will also give them a chance to work as a team outside of their day jobs.

The Kampala VSO cluster decided to choose a project in the Namuwongo 'slum' which is next-door to the leafy suburb where VSO has its office. The "Als" - Alison and Alan Cowan, members of the VSO cluster live on the edge of Namuwongo and they introduced us to the most amazing community group you could ever wish to meet. This group - "Touch Namuwongo" has 140 community-based volunteers and their main purpose is to do outreach work in the community in order to get people to take HIV tests as well as promoting safer sex. When the group is not busy with that, they also organise wider public health days. We discovered from the "Als" that they wanted to do a community clean up - the drainage ditches in Namuwongo were badly clogged and with recent heavy rain they overflowed allowing sewerage to flow freely around people's houses and there had been an outbreak of cholera. However the Touch Namuwongo group were concerned that without proper tools and protective clothing they wouldn't be able to mobilize the community to get involved.Ruth, the amazing mobiliser / organiser of "Touch Namuwongo"

The Kampala VSO cluster was asked to get involved, and so Alan and Ian (as the 'cluster' chair) had a meeting with Ruth, the organiser of the Touch Namuwongo group, to see how we could assist. After listening to Ruth we agreed to ask the Kampala cluster to commit £250 towards the purchase of tools and protective clothing and also to turn up on Saturday 25th September to work shoulder-to-shoulder with residents in cleaning up the paths and ditches running through the community.

So, with just a degree of trepidation, fifteen or so VSO volunteers showed up at 9.00 am to be overwhelmed by the site of hundreds of residents ready and waiting to get stuck in!Here's Renate improvising with some bucket lids as shovels
A group of amazing women volunteers from the "Touch Namuwongo" group - who, we discovered later, had mobilized over 400 residents to get involved!
This railway line (along which we dragged the collected rubbish) runs from Kampala City Centre, through Namuwongo, to Port Bell on Lake Victoria - three goods trains a week use the line
A view from the railway line down to an area of the community that's freshly cleaned!
A group of volunteers and residents hard at it
Our neighbour Bob (a Dutch VSO volunteer) getting down and very dirty in the drainage ditch - which as can be seen is now clean and clear
Here's a huge lump of concrete that somehow people managed to lift from the drainage ditch - no wonder the ditch got blocked quite easily!
After the clean-up everyone went to the local Parish Chair's compound for a bit of a celebration - here the entertainment is some vigorous dancing and drumming - the tools bought by the VSO cluster can be seen in the foreground
After the dancing, the troupe (all members of Touch Namuwongo) presented a 'play' about the dangers of HIV / AIDS - funny, sad, angry, emotional - brilliant! Here's a dramatic moment . .
The audience is rapt - and here Alison Cowan (a VSO volunteer medical doctor at the International Hospital) sits with her three daughters - all of whom worked their socks off during the clean-up
A Namuwongo resident enjoys an extremely well-earned ice lolly
And these three seem quite pleased about it all as well!