Walter’s Boda Tours of Kampala

Walter

The best way to see Kampala is by motorbike, or Boda Boda as they are called in Kampala. I was lucky enough to have a brilliant boda driver when I lived here; Walter.

Walter was always on call to ferry the muzungos from place to place and over the six months I spent living in Kampala while on a VSO  placement he became a good friend.

As well as working as a boda he also established Walter’sBoda Boda Tours; using his enthusiasm, intelligence and knowledge of the country to drive and guide tourists around the city.

Kampala on Walter's boda at night

Returning to Uganda this year it was fantastic to see how his business has taken off! Walter now has ten boda guys who work for him and they run a range of tours around the city and beyond to Jinja, Entebbe  or even as far as the equator

I’ve been lucky enough to take a few tours with Walter so far. The city tour is my favourite and takes in the sights such as the Gadaffi Mosque, built in 2006 it’s the second largest mosque in Africa. The views from the top are breathtaking, overlooking the whole city and all the hills with Lake Victoria as the backdrop.

View from the Gaddafi Mosque

From the mosque you can see most of the landmarks the tour takes you to such as the Kings Palace, churches and the Baha’i Temple (although as I lived a few minutes’ walk from this we omitted it from my tour..)

Driving to the Gaddafi Mosque

The tours were a great thing to do when friends came to visit – it make sightseeing much easier and Walter as a guide always puts a smile on everyone’s face.

The King's Palace

Rolex for breakfast

Seeing how fantastically his business has taken off over the past year I was keen to do another tour on my return this time. He runs a great tour of the lake..

Unfortunately due to other commitments on my part I wasn’t able to do the full tour but Walter still made sure I saw as much as possible in the limited time.

We had breakfast at his favourite rolex stand. Rolex is a traditional Uganda/Kampala food of eggs with tomato wrapped in a chapatti – I can’t believe I hadn’t had one until now. It was delicious!

Walter at Lake Victoria 

After helping me with a few errands we drove out to the lake past Munyonyo. It was wonderful to see everyone going about their day to day lives, cleaning vehicles, running businesses and fishing for Nile perch and tilapia.

What a feast we had of a huge fresh tilapia barbecued and served with a large helping of chips and salad.

Finishing lunch just as a big storm hit the lake we raced back to town avoiding as much of the rain as possible and getting me back in plenty of time for my flight home.

Lunch of freshly caught tilapia

Next time I visit I’ll make sure I take the full Lake Tour as I would have loved to sail the boat over to the island and explore further.

For anyone heading to Uganda I’d recommend a day or two in Kampala and give Walter a call on +256791880106 to arrange your tour or visit his website.

School for Life

Greeted with big smiles at Katuuso Primary School

Arriving at the School for Life school at play time was perfect timing. We were greeted with big smiles from the children and joined in their games of catch and skipping and watched them play the African game of choice, rolling tyres up and down.

One of the 80 children benefiting from School for Life

School for Life is an incredible grass roots organisation set up by a good friend, Dave, and his business partner, Annabelle.

Visiting Katuuso Primary School to see firsthand the impact they are having on the lives of children and the local community was an incredible experience.

Opened in 2011 the school began with one class. The children attending are entitled to their schooling here for free although a 20,000 Shilling (about £5) donation is asked for as a gesture of their commitment and to assist with the running costs of the school. The children here receive outstanding education with the primary class of 40 children having two teachers dedicated to them (class sizes in Uganda are often 70+)

Getting a great education

The class rooms themselves are wonderful and bright; great learning environments for the children and a stark contrast to other African schools I have visited.

Both staff and children are full of smiles as the bell rings and they line up ready to go back to class after playtime.

Currently in the middle of expanding, construction is underway on new class rooms and a library. Every detail of the project is thoroughly thought through; the bricks are all handmade on site which is not only cheaper but also much better for the environment. The construction workers are employed from the local area to give income back into the rural community.

Queuing to go back to class

The borehole, one of the first things implemented at the school, is also for the use of the whole community. Providing safe drinking water for the children and their families.

Dave shows us the borehole 

As if this wasn’t enough Dave also showed us the new agricultural plots. Crops of maize, beans, cabbages, etc are peaking our through the red dirt – all planted to assist with the school feeding programme. The children receive breakfast, morning tea and lunch so growing the crops at the school is ideal to provide the food. Cash crops of chillies are growing well and coffee will soon be grown and sold as a further income stream.

Dave showing us the new crops

Great learning environment for the children

I’m so impressed with everything School for Life is doing to support the children in Katuuso Primary and am looking forward to hearing about their expansion plans.

School for Life is an Australian registered charity and relies on donations  to implement its amazing work. Lots of luck to them in their fundraising and in everything they are doing for children in Uganda.

Top tips for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Team UNICEF

Having just completed Trek Kilimanjaro for the World’s Children I wanted to share my top tips to make climbing to The Roof of Africa a bit more comfortable...

• Pack Light

Packing for the trek seemed just as challenging as all the training. Sticking to the strict 15kg weight limit was hard work but when on the mountain I still found I’d brought a bit too much. Don’t worry about extra clothes or a ‘clean’ fleece – everything you wear will stink so just pack one of everything and you’ll be fine.

Also remember that you need to re-pack every night so don’t squeeze everything into your tiny bag as this will be so much harder to do in the small tents at 6:30am every morning..!

• Let there be light

Light is so important as it gets dark early and trying to pack up your tent with just one head torch can be challenging. I always take small disk lights camping with me and swear by them. They are light and small but those extra rays of light will make all the difference in your little tent

• Hydrate

It is drummed into you every day of the trek but make sure you drink lots. Everyone’s different in the amount they need to drink, at my tiny 5ft 1 though I still put away at least 4 litres a day. There’s nothing worse than suffering from headaches, tiredness, etc just because you didn’t drink enough.

Drinking from the camelback

A couple of tips I’ve always used in making sure I keep hydrated is to add rehydration salts to my water carrier – it makes the water purification tablets taste a bit better and keeps you on top of hydration.

I always recommend a platypus or camelbak  Having the tube easily accessible makes it so much easier to constantly keep drinking rather than having to stop to take your water bottle out of your bag. It also helps when you’re backs aching from carrying all the water to make yourself drink in order to make your load lighter...!

I bought an insulated tube  for summit day but the tube still froze. I managed to get a litre of water down though as I carried a smaller platypus inside my jacket to prevent it from freezing.

Keeping warm in the tent

• Keep warm

A hot water bottle was one of the best presents I received before the trek and it made the world of difference in the night.

• Tidy up

A top tip passed on before the trek was to bring nappy sacks as mini rubbish bags in the tent. Ideal for collecting all the wet wipes, plasters & rubbish in the tents each day.

Trekking in the sunshine

• Pack for the hot as well as cold

I brought lots of thermals, fleeces a big down jacket, gloves & scarves which were all really useful later on the trek but the first few days were beautifully warm. This was wonderful apart from only having one stay-dry T Shirt. I’d recommend a long sleeved, light weight stay-dry T Shirt for the first few days, this will keep you cool and also protect you from the strong African sunshine. (don’t forget your sun cream!)

• Enjoy it.

Apart from a few hours trudging up the mountain in the dark on summit day I enjoyed every second of the trek. Go at your own pace; slowly, slowly. Take in the beauty of the country and enjoy the once in a life time experience.

How many people does it take to climb Kilimanjaro?

Welcoming the trekkers back to camp each day with song and dance

One of the roles as charity rep on the UNICEF UK treks is to collect the tips for the porters. When the details of the trek were being finalised last year I questioned Across the Divide (the agency who organise our treks) when they stated that there was a $240 compulsory tip in addition to the general ground costs. I thought a tip was optional and I guessed some of the participants would argue the same. I was assured that while the Tanzanian team were paid a fair wage they also rely on their tip money as a source of income and that they would earn every penny of it.

Tents were put up in all weather for our return to camp

As I collected the tips no one gave them begrudgingly and some kindly donated extra. The team looking after us have been unbelievable. From waking us up with a cup of tea in our tents every morning, setting up camp, preparing hot water, carting tables & chairs up the mountain for us to enjoy a civilised breakfast lunch and dinner every day, the list goes on and on...

So how many people does it take to get a group of 26 trekkers and 5 team up the mountain...? 107! We had 86 porters and 2 chief porters who carry all of our kit as well as the ‘essentials’ for the camp. It makes me feel guiltily to think of the heavy jars of jam, tomato sauce, hot chocolate, peanut butter, etc we were tucking into on the mountain.

Lunch time!

The 5 man tent crew not only carried the tents but also ensured they are all put up ready and waiting for us as we staggered into camp each day.

As well as our fantastic cooks, there were also the cooks who cooked for the porters, the med-bag carrier, guides, assistant guides and the list goes on...

Splitting the tips was a challenge as we had to ensure that everyone received a fair amount and that we didn't insult anyone by getting the hierarchy confused.

After much too-ing and fro-ing we got the tip just right, or so we had thought; unfortunately there had been a little confusion with the amount of porters when it came to handing out the tips, but the wonderful participants quickly put their hands in their pockets to make up the deficit and continue to show their gratitude to this awesome team.

Handing out the tips

Everyone is so grateful for the powerful team who were all responsible for making our dreams of standing on The Rood of Africa a reality. We really couldn't have done it without them!

A day on Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro!

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life – but apart from a few dark hours on summit day it is one of the very best experiences I’ve had. Taking the Rongai Route Team UNICEF took eight days to complete our adventure. My favourite day of the trip was as we headed to Mawenzi Tarn on day four.

Clear view of the mountain

We awoke to a clear view of ‘the hill’ as our Expedition Leader lovingly refers to the highest freestanding mountain in the world.

 A few of the group begin to feel the effects of the altitude at 3,600 meters with headaches and nose-bleeds. Luckily nothing serious though as we set out with the African sun beating down on us as we begin our steady assent. ‘Pole Pole’ means ‘slowly slowly’ in Swahili and is repeated many times today as the air thins we have to pace ourselves carefully.

Trekking to Mount Kilimanjaro

It’s such a beautiful walk today and a reasonable challenge similar perhaps to climbing Snowdon but with the altitude effecting our energy levels. The views are breathtaking as we walk above the clouds they look like cotton wool cushioned beneath us.

A slightly steeper assent and the air becomes cooler, adding a few extra layers of clothing for warmth we begin to descend to our campsite. The bright yellow tents are a welcome site, as is the knowledge that we’ll be staying two whole nights so there’s no need to pack/re-pack our kit bags.

Trekking above the clouds

We have a free afternoon, some of the team take a nap, read, or write their journals. I tool a gentle stroll to admire the views in the clouds. I couldn’t resist leaving a memory of UNICEF on the mountain so created a UNICEF sign out of rocks.

Leaving a UNICEF memory 

Some of the more energetic in the group set up a game of cricket, with strictly no running to preserve their energy for the rest of the climb! This quickly gathered spectators as people emerged from their tents looking rested.

High altitude game of cricket

Before we knew, it was time for dinner and another delicious concoction was created. It’s amazing the food that can be produced from ingredients the porters have carried on their backs and cooked with limited facilities.

The team have gelled so well and every meal time we share stories, dreams and ambitions. It’s such a wonderfully diverse and interesting group and I feel very proud to be part of it. Each of us doing our small bit to support UNICEF and the children like those we were lucky enough to meet at the beginning of our adventure. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.

An African Motorcycle Diary

October is one of my favourite times of year. As the sun begins to disappear in the UK and the leaves start turning orange I pack my bags and head to South Africa. This year, however I boarded the flight to Jo’burg leaving behind an unusually hot sunny day in London and after a long journey arrived in a small town called Alicedale in South Africa. 

Enduro Africa is an amazing off-road motorbike rally run by adventure company Global Enduro. Thirty-four bikers have just completed eight days of tough riding along the Wild Coast. They have tackled river crossings, the mighty gorge and too many obstacles to mention.

As always they were a fantastic group of people. From a range of backgrounds and interests they all came together to raise funds for UNICEF, Sentebale, The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Touch Africa by completing this adventure of a lifetime.

This is the fourth year UNICEF has benefited from Enduro Africa. To date they've donated a fantastic £280,000 for our work with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. With 17 per cent of the adult population living with HIV this support is absolutely vital.

Some of the riders knew what to expect, having taken part in Enduro or other Global Enduro events in the past. Others have had a steep learning curve. They were introduced to their Honda CRF 230s and after a short warm up in the quarry they were put into their groups according to their riding ability.

The orange, green and blue  team shirts quickly lost their pristine look after a week of mud, dust, sweat and tears.

Every day brought new experiences, none of the ‘paths’ taken is suitable for 4-wheel drive vehicles so riders got to see and experience parts of the Eastern Cape that no other tourists, or very few people for that matter, ever see. 

They crossed through ancient mountain passes only accessible by bike and cattle herders. They picked their lines carefully, watching for obstacles like rocks, washaways, free roaming animals, sudden drop offs, not to mention the other bikes. 

The multitude of river crossings gave them the opportunity to cool down as they attempted to ride through in waste-deep water, navigating the rocks beneath. Some managed to get through but many bikes drowned, were quickly pulled out again, drained and moved onto the next obstacle...

One of the many  things I have come to love about these trips is the camaraderie of the teams and the spirit in which everyone looks after each other (as well as a odd practical joke!) The team leaders and sweeps work tirelessly to ensure that everyone gets through the day safely. The medics and mechanics are always close by, should they be needed to fix a bike - or a biker. 

Everyone has returned home a little battered and bruised but with new friends, all thoroughly proud of what they have achieved, how much they have learnt and the legacy they have left for the children in South Africa and Lesotho.

The adventure begins all over again as the second group arrive in Durban today and set off south down the coast. Lots of luck to them; if they have just half as much fun as the first group they too will have the adventure of a lifetime with memories to last forever.

If you would like to get involved with Enduro Africa next year visit www.enduroafrica.com 

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I realise I’ve been pretty bad at posting any notes or blogs about my time in Uganda – I think the last one I wrote was about my Christmas celebrations. Hopefully the hundreds of photos and status updates have created a bit of a picture of my life in Uganda... but here are some reflections on the good, the bad and the ugly experiences of the past few months:

The Good:

The people are top of this list. I’m so lucky to have made some lovely friends. Everyone here is really interesting and so much fun.  It’s actually pretty easy to make friends as everyone’s in the same boat; away from home, not knowing many people and out here to have an amazing experience and hopefully make a bit of a difference.

It is so nice to go for weekends away with these great friends; I’ve been lucky enough to spend a couple of weekends in Jinja, take a trip to Murchison Falls and had another awesome weekend in Sipi Falls. 

As well as going away with people here I’ve had some visitors too, Alex, Lizz and Kat came to stay last month and we headed off with our ‘trusty’(!) guide to Queen Elizabeth National Park in the West. The amount of animals we saw was incredible; elephants, hippos & crocs on the banks of the Kazinga Channel. Then as we drove through the National Park more elephants, cape buffalo, warthogs, cobs, baboons, and even monkeys with blue balls! We were a bit scared walking back to our bandas one evening in our camp bordering The DRC. (The camp had been shut down until recently because of DRC rebels crossing the border at the river there!) As we walked back with nothing but a head torch and drunken ranger to ‘protect’ us we could hear the hippos and other animals a little too close for comfort. We were lucky enough not to come across any lions that evening but during our morning game drive; from the safety of our vehicle, we saw a male and a female just 15 feet from us. In fact we couldn’t go anywhere even if we had wanted to as they decided to have a drink and a rest right in the middle of the road. Ishasha, is famous for the tree climbing lions and even though we didn’t see them up a tree it was incredible to see them so close up.

Our journey took us further South, climbing up the mountains to Bwindi and then ended in possibly the most beautiful place in Uganda; Lake Bunyonyi. This is the second deepest lake in Africa but with no bilharzia or crocodiles we couldn’t resist going for a swim, even though it was raining and pretty cold!

As well as wonderful people and great holidays there have also been some successes at work. The main one being Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA)’s International Women’s Day celebrations.  The 8th March is a day for the world to recognise and celebrate women’s achievements and highlight important issues facing women today.  This year the Ugandan theme was maternal health and with 16 women dying every day during pregnancy or child birth it is an issue that needs a lot of attention. The run up to the event was a little tense as even though I had secured a few corporate sponsors we didn’t get confirmation that our fundraising proposal to UNFPA had been successful until 5 days before the event. But with lots of last minute decisions and publicity we managed to pull off a great event with around 400 attendees. There was drama from the UMWA drama group and local school children, community dialogue and a health camp with doctors & midwives giving advice to women and men who had questions about maternal health. Mama FM also ran programs for the week leading up to after the event concentrating on maternal health. So hopefully have done, and are continuing to, play our part in supporting women’s health.

The Bad:

It wouldn’t be fair to only concentrate on all of the good things so here’s some of the bad too...

Linked directly with meeting so many lovely people is the negative side of that; saying goodbye to so many lovely people. Like me, most people are only here for short periods while they research for their studies, complete internships or take part in exchanges. So unfortunately saying goodbye is becoming all too regular. But I’m sure we’ll keep in touch and the most important thing is getting to share these experiences with the people around you, even if you do have to say goodbye to them the following week.

I’m not looking forward to having to say goodbye to everyone when I leave in less than two months time. Obviously I can’t wait to see my family and friends (and eat Walkers Salt & Vinegar crisps!) but I’m going to be so sad to say goodbye. But let’s not think about that just yet...

“Muzungu.”  It’s not a bad word but sometimes it gets a bit much constantly being referred to as Muzungu.  The kids down my street have now mastered ‘Alyrene-a’ but to everyone else I am just ‘Muzungu’. Most days it is absolutely wonderful to have a chat to everyone on the way to and from work and play with the kids but I must admit some mornings I miss the anonymity of London. I’m sure after a few journeys on the tube I will not feel like that and will miss the friendly smiles of everyone here!

The Ugly:

Me after sitting in the sun too long!  I got such bad sunburn a couple of months ago. Factor 40 and moving into the shade just wasn’t enough to ward off the African sun.  I was so burnt I spent the evening lying face down on Anna’s couch (the most comfortable position..!) with her putting cold towels over me – although they didn’t stay cold for long, within just a couple of minutes my skin had managed to burn them through too. A week of steroid cream and aloe vera sorted me out though.

On a more serious note though there are ugly things happening all around when people live in poverty. Betty, one of my neighbours is such a lovely woman and is very welcoming to everyone in our little village – all the children congregate at Betty’s house as she is just so warm and kind. I was walking home from work last Thursday and bumped into her – she looked awful and when I asked her if she was okay she just muttered; “I’m hungry.”  I immediately took her home and gave her some food and packed up all the food I had in the house (which wasn’t very much unfortunately) for her to take home. The father of her eldest children (18 and 16) died years ago and she now lives with her husband and Peace her adorable (and mischievous!) 5year old daughter. Her husband had gone to the East for a few weeks to work on a construction site and was due to be home that Monday but he hadn’t returned and thus she had no money and no food. With no way of contacting him she still has no idea when, or if, he will return. She broke down and it was just awful, I’m used to being a shoulder to cry on – but what could I say about this situation that would make it any better...? It’s just so awful and the heart-breaking thing is that Betty is not a one off, with 37% of the population living beneath the poverty line there are too many people in situations like Betty’s in this country....

Well not a cheery note to end on, but a memory that will stick with me forever. Thanks for taking the time to read about my Uganda experiences, it really is a very special country.

Christmas in Uganda

The morning of the 23rd started with two Muzungus and lots of luggage squeezed onto the back of the boda riding into town for our early pick up. Driving out of Kampala on the backpackers shuttle was the usual traffic mayhem but as we got out of town I was amazed to see a straight tarmaced road with no potholes! Yvonne and I were heading to Jinja, where the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria and begins its 6,500km journey to the Med.

The backpackers was basic but eating breakfast overlooking the Nile was fantastic. There was a massive storm soon after we arrived so what better thing to do in the rain; relax with a massage.

I began my Christmas Eve with a horse ride through beautiful villages on the edge of the river.

Then time for some Christmas Eve shopping. Jinja is the second largest town in Uganda but at a tenth of the size of Kampala the small stalls and quite streets were a welcome relief to city life.

For Christmas Eve we took a sunset cruise on the Nile which was beautiful, sailing past the source of the river and into the lake.  There was a great party atmosphere with the others on the boat and needless to say the party continued well into the night...

It’s Christmas morning and ouch my head hurts!! Unfortunately while everyone at home woke up to a white Christmas we woke up to rain and lots of it. Luckily we didn’t have to venture far for our Christmas lunch. We’d booked into the hotel next door for Christmas lunch. The rest of the day followed the usual Christmas tradition with a snooze after eating way too much and drinks into the evening.

We spent our last morning in Jinja wondering round Bujagali Falls. This was a must see because of the damn being built nearby which will flood this section of the river and thus the falls. Then for a chilled afternoon swimming and sunbathing overlooking the Nile with monkeys climbing through the trees just a few feet away.

Not quite ready to go back to dusty Kampala I joined Thea and Alison on a trip to Sipi Falls in the East.  What a beautiful drive through villages and sweeping up the roads with Mount Elgon in the background.

We spent the next few days trekking to the four waterfalls, eating gorgeous home cooked meals at the lodge and relaxing with a nice glass of wine or two in the evenings.

One of the treks left us a bit battered and bruised... We found out afterwards that the guide had taken us on the wrong route but it was a great sense of achievement scaling the rock face to get home. Those climbers amongst you would have loved it! I ended up with a big egg head after having a bamboo stick thrown on my head while we attempted to get down one of the more difficult sections (accidentally of course.)

One of the best parts of the Sipi trip was watching the sunset, the view was incredible and as we walked up we had a rainbow on one side and the sun beginning to set on the other,  beautiful.

A great end to what has been a fantastic year. Happy New Year all, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and here’s to a great 2011... xx

First impressions of Kampala

So I’ve been in Uganda a month now. In one way it feels like only yesterday saying all my goodbyes (and recovering from all the hangovers..) and in another it feels like I have been here forever. .  I thought it was about time to jot down some of my first impressions of Kampala.  I also wanted to thank everyone who sponsored me – I reached my target for VSO to continue supporting volunteers to fight poverty – thank you!!

The People:

In just a month I have met so many wonderful people both fellow Muzungus (the term for a ‘white person which you hear about 50 times a day) and locals.

Firstly I met the VSO crew. We spent a week in Kabalagala for our In Country Training. There were volunteers from far and wide; Canada, Scotland, Kenya, Ireland & Holland so we learnt about each other’s cultures as well as the Uganda culture. As everyone went their separate ways to the likes of Kabulasoke, Gulu and Lira there were just a few of us left in Kampala. Yvonne, a lovely Irish girl living the same side of town as me and Yan who we’ve already said goodbye too as he was just on a one month placement (although we’re sure he’ll be back some time soon.) Yvonne was the first person I met in Uganda, at the airport waiting for our luggage and now we’re spending Christmas together in Jinja – I can’t wait!

Then I moved to Kisaasi and met Anne Karie, Anna for short.  Anna is my lovely Norwegian next door neighbour and also works at Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA.) I’m not sure what I would have done without Anna, she has been so kind; shown me round and introduced me to all the people she has met over her past couple of months here. She is also a breath of fresh-air when things get frustrating at work – I’m not sure how many times we’ve turned to each other and said “it doesn’t happen like this at home.”

Walter needs a mention here too, our boda-boda (motorbike taxi) driver. Everyone advises you to find a good boda driver but before I got here I wondered how to do that. Luckily Anna introduced me to Walter. Walter has about 50 Muzungu clients and everyone loves Walter! He is such sweet guy and makes sure he looks after his Muzungus. He’s really interesting to chat to and always puts a smile on our face. He’s currently writing a book, ‘Stories from the back of a boda’ (let’s hope he doesn’t spill too much gossip...)

Then there’s Betty who lives in a tiny house down the road. Betty is so friendly and always wants to chat. Walking home from work to be greeted with a big, toothless, smile “welcome back Alyrene-a” (she’s got the best pronunciation of Alyrene so far – seems it’s a pretty touch name to say out here..) Her first husband has ‘gone away’ and she now lives with the father of her youngest child, Peace. Peace is far from peaceful and has a great mischievous twinkle in her eye. As a family they don’t have much and can barely afford school fees but Betty always offers tea, food or anything she can find as a gift. She sometimes sells avocados from the tree in her yard so I make sure I buy them from her to at least give something back for her kindness. 

There’s so many other lovely people I’ve met – too many to mention here but I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and sharing this experience with such great people.

The Food

Always an important subject but unfortunately Ugandan cuisine is not much to write home about! During the VSO training we had traditional Ugandan food most days for lunch and it consisted of carbs, carbs and more carbs... A standard meal would be posho (maize flour dough) matoke (steamed green banana) rice,  cassava and potatoes served with beans and a little fish or meat. Basically lots of carbs and not much flavour!

At first I was pleased to find that I would get lunch provided at work. On the minimal VSO allowance any cost saving is much appreciated. Unfortunately in just a few weeks I am already sick of posho and beans (see lunch pic.) I’ve bought a big jar of chilli sauce but even that doesn’t seem to help.

Luckily Kampala has lots of restaurants with most cuisines you could wish for; Ethiopian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Italian, etc, etc (but unfortunately no Vietnamese – gutted!) So far I’ve tucked into some great dishes. The ‘East African mixed grill’ (see pic) and steaks are the best so far. Unfortunately I shouldn’t get too used to the lovely food as the VSO allowance doesn’t stretch to eating in all those lovely places. We did find a great cheap place though; very local and you have to be sure to request a table as far away from the toilets as possible but they do 2 sticks of BBQ pork served with avocado, cassava, salad and chilli for just 5,000 shillings and it’s absolutely lovely. I think I need to go back there again soon....

The Drink

Of course there had to be a drinking section... It’s mainly beer and Club is my brand of choice, it’s only served in big bottles – no complaints there! Whenever you order a beer the bar man/waitress asks if you would like it warm or iced, I’m not sure why warm beer would be appealing in this weather but the cold beer goes down very well!

Unfortunately there are no bars near where I live but a call to the trusty Walter and there are lots of places to choose from in town. (I say ‘in town’ to refer to anywhere past the Northern by-pass as my awful sense of direction is not helped by living in a city full of hills!)

Luckily Captain Morgan is also widely available here too for when we’ve had too much beer!

The Work

Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA) has been running for 27 years, in fact it was set up in the same summer I was born. They run community outreach programmes, a newspaper and a radio station. Mama FM was the first women owned and run radio station in Africa and uses its programmes to promote gender equality. My main role is fundraising for the radio and to be honest it looks like I have a tough job ahead of me – but hey I wanted a challenge!!

The working culture is very different here in Uganda – as is the time keeping (but I actually quite like African time because with African time you can never be late!) It is however  a little frustrating when you book a meeting at 10am and it doesn’t  happen till 5pm!

It was the UMWA Christmas party last week and although not the best Christmas party I’ve ever been to, the staff loved it. Nearly all of the 45 staff members are volunteers and often have to use their own money to pay for work phone calls or for transport to the field. The Christmas party was a way for the organisation to show how much they appreciated everyone’s commitment. There was a gift for everyone and never have I seen anyone so excited to open a parcel of bed sheets (although to be fair it was quite a handy gift – even though mine are bright pink.) There were certificates for the best presenter, technician, editor, etc and again people were so proud to receive this recognition.

Arriving here in November was really good timing because I’ve had chance to get to grips with work and life in Kampala. I’ve been able to input into (and write) the 2011 work plan and now have some time to reflect over the Christmas break.  I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me in the New Year but I’m ready for the challenge. It’s also a really interesting time to be working in Kampala and especially in the media industry with the elections coming up.

The Place

When I found out my placement was in Uganda  and I’d be living in Kampala I was really excited. I’d heard Kampala was a really safe and reasonably developed city. I must admit I got a bit of a shock driving to my new home! I’m living in an area called Kisaasi which is about 8km North of Kampala but it may as well be 80km out of town.  The shock quickly wore off and now I feel I have the best of both worlds – I get to live in what feels like a rural Ugandan village but can hop on a boda and be in ‘civilisation’ in 20mins.

I only have a 5min walk to work which is great and can even pop home for lunch if the posho and beans get too much.

It’s a really lovely and reasonably safe area. The neighbours are all very friendly and even though it’s not exactly a Waitrose I can buy all the essentials from the local shops. There are also a few little stalls at the end of people’s gardens selling fresh fruit and vegetables and at a fraction of the price they sell for in the supermarkets in town.

The only bad thing about Kisaasi is the dust. Because none of the roads are tarmaced it gets so dusty.  It’s actually quite nice when it rains just to get rid of the dust for a few hours – I’m not sure I’ll be saying that in full monsoon season though as I’m guessing the track to my house may turn into a bit of a river!

The Transport

Never again will I complain about the British transport system! There are three transport options in Kampala:

Option One: Special hire, which is a private taxi and not affordable on the VSO allowance.

Option Two: Bodaboda, the motorbike taxi which I think is the best option, but maybe that’s because after spending time on a bike in India any road system seems to make sense. It does seem strange being on a bike without full on motor-cross gear but the must have accessory in Kampala is a helmet. Back home everyone carries a nice handbag on their arm; here all the Muzungus walk around with our helmets.  Walter – our lovely Boda driver is very proud of his Bajaj Boxer but dreams of one day upgrading to a BMW.

Option Three: Matatu; a shared minibus taxi and the cheapest way to get around but I hate those things! Not because of all the reports of accidents or stranding passengers in the middle of nowhere but because I have no idea where to get on or off. As you all know my sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired and attempting to figure out my way round the taxi parks is a bit of a challenge (check out the pic to see what I mean.)

Well I think that’s it for now – a longer report than I meant to write but I hope you found it interesting. Thank you again to everyone who has supported me. And lots of Christmas love and wishes to you all. xxx