Kampala vs. London

With just over a week to go until the end of my VSO placement I have been reflecting upon my time here and all the things I’ll miss when I leave Uganda and all the things I’m looking forward to at home.

I am so excited to meet my new baby niece, Ella. Emily & Ian have sent me lots of photos and she is gorgeous; I can’t wait to give her a big cuddle from her Aunty Al. Seeing my family and lovely friends is also at the top of my ‘things I’m looking forward to’ list.

Mama FM colleagues


However at the top of my ‘things I’m going to miss’ list is all my lovely friends, colleagues and neighbours here. It’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to so many inspiring people. I will miss everyone a lot!

Food and drinks. Ah how I miss Walkers Salt & Vinegar crisps (although I write this having just devoured a pack – thanks for the parcel Fran!!) As for eating out I’m spoilt for choice of restaurants in Kampala but unfortunately no Vietnamese, my favourite. I think I’ll be having lots of lunches in Pho when I get back! I’m also looking forward to turning on the tap and getting a glass of water. Here I boil and filter my water and even though I’m getting used to the chalky taste it is getting a bit tedious

Milk. Fresh, cold milk. I buy the longlife milk here but it expires pretty quickly once it’s opened. I do have a fridge but given all the power cuts it’s not very reliable! I can only have white coffee in the mornings at work because by the afternoon the milk has gone off. In fact to have coffee at all Anna and I have to bring in our own coffee, milk, sugar, mugs and even our own kettle! I’m so looking forward to rocking up to the office and finding a pot of coffee simmering away, milk in the fridge, sugar in the jar and even lots of herbal teas for detox days.



Anna & I at work



Talking about the office this is a sad fact to admit but I am looking forward to getting back to the world of Microsoft Outlook. Looking in someone’s calendar, arranging a meeting and knowing they will turn up and on time seems like such a luxury. And emails  – how I miss emails! To communicate in the office here a memo is written, stamped (this is a very important step) and then physically passed round the office. It is then pinned to the notice board with ‘NEW’ scrawled across it in big red letters. There are scores of ‘NEW’ memos on that board!  UMWA only has one email address for the whole organisation. For those of us who have to/want to communicate via email we use our personal account which doesn’t seem very professional- especially when communicating with donors... Other luxuries such as a phone and printer are missing here. It will actually feel like a treat to pick up my phone, with my direct line and make a call from my desk without having to borrow the one organisation phone and worry about running out of air time half way through the call.

I am looking forward to not being as reliant upon my laptop. I use it all day for work as there are not enough computers. Having said that it is great in meetings to take notes and quickly look something up or just to carry on working while waiting for people to turn up. My laptop is my main method of communication with everyone at home (what did we do before the days of Face Book and Skype....?) It is also my means of watching TV. Most of us Muzungus have brought external hard drives full of films and TV series (Thanks Kevin!) that we swap. It’s great to be able to watch a film or an episode of Mad Men on a night in but I am looking forward to turning on the TV. I miss watching the news in the morning as I’m getting ready for work.

"Welcome Home Alyrene-a"

I will very much miss my journey to/from work. Every morning to be greeted with big smiles from Betty and the children is a great start to the day. And there’s nothing better than after a bad day (or a good day for that matter) to be greeted by the gorgeous children running up the road, fighting over who will be the first to get a cuddle from Alyrene-a. There is a lovely culture to welcome everyone back at the end of the day so passing the small houses on the way home and hearing ‘welcome back’ is a far cry from rushing through the crowds anonymously in London. Another great saying they use all the time here is ‘well done’. ‘well done’ for getting up ‘well done’ for getting to work, ‘well done’ for everything!

My working hours here are very relaxed. Anna and I aim to leave the house at about 9am (I am usually late....!) But regardless of how early or late we are we are still always the first in our little office. It’s such a luxury to be able to come home, shower, change, chill out and still meet friends later in town for dinner or drinks. I think it will take me a while to get used to rushing out straight from work, trekking across London and still always arriving at the pub and greeting my mates with “I’m sorry I’m late... again.” So even though ‘African Time’ can get frustrating, I’m a big fan of it!

Walter's Boda

My next point is a bit contradictory. I am really looking forward to getting back to a decent public transport system. Being able to hop on a tube or bus or just walk across town without any pre-planning. Here my schedule is often determined by Walter and on the rare occasions he’s not working we are stuck in Kisaasi. But I will miss being on a bike every day. I love it! And although I do sometimes have a snooze on the way home the journey back from a night out is always as much fun as the night it’s self. One of the first things I was taught in Luganda was ‘mpola mpola’ which means 'slowly slowly' and we were told to say this to all boda drivers but I much prefer ‘speedy speedy.’

En route to Queen Elizabeth National Park



Because of the lack of reliable public transport I have had some great road trips at weekends. It’s easier to hire a minibus than attempt to get around on the matatus. Hiring your own transport has the added bonus of being able to stop en-route. One of the most beautiful viewpoints was heading from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Lake Bunyonyi at Easter, looking out over the vast African savannah with the sun beating down – just gorgeous.



Cassia Lodge



I’ll miss weekends in Kampala too. So long as the sun is shining we spend our weekends chilling at the pool. Most of the hotels charge a small fee for use of the pool/gym (some of them charge a large fee but we avoid those!) One of the very best is Cassia Lodge. It’s about a 40min boda ride away but the views across Lake Victoria are always worth it. Not sure sunbathing on Clapham Common will quite match it, but hey I’m looking forward to that too...

One thing Clapham does have that Kampala lacks is street lights. I miss light! It will be so nice to go back to long summer evenings rather than it getting dark by 7pm every day.



Another thing London has over Kampala is hundreds of shops to choose from but I’m really going to miss shopping sprees here. Two great girls have set up a fab initiative called Fashion Corps. They trawl through the markets for all the hidden gems and host parties once a month selling the goodies. I love leaving Nina and Brooke to do my shopping for me, I just hope I’ve got enough luggage space to bring it all back....

So just six months away. So many amazing memories and so much I’ll miss but also so much to look forward to.