Bayimba International Cultural Festival

On Sunday evening we went with our guests to the Bayimba International Cultural Festival at the National Theatre. Here are some photographs of the group 'Percussion Discussion' performing to a warmly appreciative crowd.
The lead male singer and the young boy who danced frenetically are both wearing 'bark-cloth' - made from tree bark and traditional clothing of the Baganda people from central Uganda
This little fella was enjoying a grand-stand view from dad's shoulders
Renate's chilling!

Lemon Drizzle Cake!

When Ian returned from Fort Portal he was greeted by visitors - VSO volunteers who work in the far south west of Uganda in a place called Kisoro. Poppy is an experienced sign language interpreter and trainer working with the Peace Education Trust and Chantal is training teachers in special needs education. They were both in Kampala to attend a conference on deaf education. On Saturday afternoon we suddenly decided it would be a great idea to make a cake!

But how can you make a cake with no oven? "Easy!" says Poppy - who went on to explain how we would need to nip out and buy three cheap cooking pots - each one a little bigger than the other. The first pot goes on the hob, next the pot with the cake mixture is placed inside the first pot - leaving a gap of about 1 to 2 centimetres between the bottom of the first pot and the bottom of the second pot. Finally the third pot is place on top to 'seal' the oven.

A basic sponge cake mix was checked out on t'internet and forty five minutes later a light and risen sponge cake appeared. Baukje, Poppy and Chantal then whipped up a lemon drizzle icing and 'afternoon tea' was ready.

By the way the cake was really very delicious!Here, the three chefs, left to right - Baukje, Chantal and Poppy are doing the baking businessHere's the cooked cake in its 'oven' potPoppy cuts the iced cake
The 'tea party' enjoys the result on the balcony in the warmth of a Kampala afternoon - spot on!

MARPs Network Public Dialogue in Western Uganda

For four days last week Geoffrey, Richard, Prossy and Ian from the Most At Risk Populations (MARPs) Network were in very beautiful Fort Portal, a town in Western Uganda - 300 kilometres from Kampala. The purpose of the trip was for the Network team to meet with and listen to small civil society organisations (CSOs) who are working with people from most at-risk population groups (in terms of contracting HIV / AIDS). The event, held in a comfortable Catholic conference centre, also provided a good chance for the 31 people who came along to meet each other and to share their experiences of trying to reach out to, and work with, most at-risk populations. The event was very successful with those attending keen to join the Network. Here are some photographs taken by Geoffrey and Richard.Richard and Prossy walking in the green and lush grounds of the Lisieux Centre in Fort PortalDr Geoffrey Mujisha, the Executive Director of the MARPs Network, welcoming participants at the beginning of the dialogueParticipants enjoying the group discussionA group's list of those they think are most at-riskGiving good listening!This participant felt passionately that people living with HIV / AIDS should be treated with respect and without discrimination
Ian checking which flip chart sheets to stick on the wallThe 'group photograph'!

Uganda Wildlife Education Centre

Today was a public holiday in Uganda, celebrating the Eid Festival at the end of the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan. Renate and Ian went to Entebbe on the shore of Lake Victoria - 40 km south of Kampala. Their destination was the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC).

UWEC was opened in 1952 by the Colonial Government as an animal Orphanage that offered sanctuary to young animals found abandoned in protected areas due to the death or poaching of parent animals. In the early 1960s, it became a traditional zoo until 1994 when it was converted into a wildlife education centre.

All the animals have been rescued from poachers, illegal trade or accidents. The animals are brought to the centre by government agencies, animal welfare groups and concerned citizens.

Here are some highlights from the visit.One of the residents of "Chimpanzee Island" at UWEC.
While looking through the view finder - aiming to focus on the Chimp - this nasty looking spider came into focus, so instead of the Chimp, the spider became the subject of this photograph. (you can enlarge the photograph by clicking on it)
These Vervet monkeys (at least that's what Ian thinks they're called) use team-work as a good way of speeding up the process of shifting the nits!
This little fella was messing about in a tree just a few feet away from Ian's face.
This baby otter seemed keen to show off newly developed swimming and diving skills
A relaxed doze - no sign of any attention being paid to anything - nice skin though - no wonder crocodiles are hunted for it.

Cumin spuds

Since arriving in Uganda Ian has been eating less meat and experimenting more with vegetarian food. Uganda has a bountiful harvest when there's rain and a good variety of fresh vegetables are easy to come by.

The spuds in the picture turned out to be really delicious. So here's the recipe.

Three large spuds, peeled and chopped into rough centimetre cubes and boiled until there's just a little bit of an edge / bite to them - drain and set aside.

Chop up a large onion and five or six cloves of garlic (coursely chopped) and brown in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 'heavy bottomed / non stick' pan. When brown and sizzling nicely throw in the spuds and stir for a minute, then throw in two chopped ripe tomatoes and stir some more. Now throw in 1 teaspoon of cumin powder and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly and leave to simmer with the pan covered for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and stir some more to allow the spuds to lose excess moisture and also to begin to 'catch' and brown a bit on the pan bottom.

Delicious with green beans - boiled for just a few minutes with a pinch of salt and 'chunk' of naughty butter added. Enjoy!

66 not out! - A lovely birthday with Kampala friends

At 8.15 am there's a knock on the door and our dear VSO neighbours arrive with a birthday cake!
Our neighbours - Bob, Baukje and Julia
The happy ageing hippie couple
At work, the team celebrated my birthday with me and had a really good business plan discussion at the same time!
Richard gave me a great birthday hug
I took this picture of children when I was on the trip out west with Sam
Our VSO volunteer friend Jan turned into this lovely painting for my birthday pressie
Jan with the painting - this was on the occasion of her first exhibition of her work - on Friday night - coinciding nicely with my birthday. The exhibition was a huge success and Jan breathed a massive sigh of relief - she had been a touch scared at what the reaction might be - and it was overwhelming positive!!