On Saturday 4 June we joined a group of fellow VSO volunteers on a trip to the Mandela International Stadium in Kampala to cheer on the Uganda national football team - known as the "Cranes" - in a qualifying match for the African Cup of Nations that will be held in Gabon later this year. The opponents - Guinea-Bissau, a tiny West African country. The pictures below provide a flavour of our experience.
A view of the stadium minutes before the match started - no spare seats and still many outside wanting to get in
A 'vuvuzela' player warming up just in front of us - the noise from thousands of vuvuzelas is something else!
People around us celebrate the opening goal for Uganda, just before half-time
Some of the VSO crew enjoing a breather at half-time
In this picture is Niamh, our new neighbour. Niamh's from Ireland and is a VSO volunteer working with Tradelinks - an organisation supporting the gowth of entrepreneurship in Uganda. The top of the head in the foreground belongs to Tom Brennan another Irish VSO volunteer working to support primary school improvement in a district just to the west of Kampala
On the left is Stuart Richie - a volunteer from Edinburgh supporting the development of Uganda's school inspectorate. On the right our good neighbour Bob Vos who lives in the flat below us - sadly he's returning to the Netherlands next week after a year's business development work with Mango Tree - an educational materials publishing house close to us in Ntinda
Great excitement as the "Cranes" go 2-0 up soon after half-time - time for everyone to relax and really enjoy the rest of the game
The sprinklers came on immediately after the end of the match and someone said that it's to stop people running on the pitch
A happy crowd head home into the setting sun at the end of the game - for some the journey will take two to three hours, just to travel 5 km. Bob and Ian walked home - between 3 and 4 km in just about an hour. A couple of cold beers were very welcome at the end of the walk. But a good day out in great company.
A view of the stadium minutes before the match started - no spare seats and still many outside wanting to get in
A 'vuvuzela' player warming up just in front of us - the noise from thousands of vuvuzelas is something else!
People around us celebrate the opening goal for Uganda, just before half-time
Some of the VSO crew enjoing a breather at half-time
In this picture is Niamh, our new neighbour. Niamh's from Ireland and is a VSO volunteer working with Tradelinks - an organisation supporting the gowth of entrepreneurship in Uganda. The top of the head in the foreground belongs to Tom Brennan another Irish VSO volunteer working to support primary school improvement in a district just to the west of Kampala
On the left is Stuart Richie - a volunteer from Edinburgh supporting the development of Uganda's school inspectorate. On the right our good neighbour Bob Vos who lives in the flat below us - sadly he's returning to the Netherlands next week after a year's business development work with Mango Tree - an educational materials publishing house close to us in Ntinda
Great excitement as the "Cranes" go 2-0 up soon after half-time - time for everyone to relax and really enjoy the rest of the game
The sprinklers came on immediately after the end of the match and someone said that it's to stop people running on the pitch
A happy crowd head home into the setting sun at the end of the game - for some the journey will take two to three hours, just to travel 5 km. Bob and Ian walked home - between 3 and 4 km in just about an hour. A couple of cold beers were very welcome at the end of the walk. But a good day out in great company.
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