Climbing Snowdon

Kilimanjaro Brochure

It’s just 10 weeks until I set out for UNICEF’s Trek Kilimanjaro for the World’s Children As part of my training I wanted to climb Snowdon. Luckily a couple of mates were up for the challenge, including my travel buddy, Lizz. Lizz summated Kili last year so has lots of tips and advice to offer. In fact she and her sister, Kat, feature on the front cover of our brochure 

Friends, old and new, set off to Wales early Saturday morning. British summer wasn't playing ball and as we crossed the border into Wales the heavens opened! After a five hour drive we aimed for the car park of the Pyg Track. Even in the pouring rain it was full so we drove further down the mountain, meaning we began our hike by walking two miles up to the beginning of the track.

Ready to go

To be honest the first twenty minutes or so were really hard work and made me realise I need to up my training for Kili. But after I’d got into the swing of it I began to really enjoy it.

The rain subsided for a while and the atmosphere on the mountain was jovial. Snowden is the most popular mountain to climb in the UK and taking the well trodden route up we met lots of fellow trekkers. Some were in training, some raising funds for charity, some taking the dog for a walk and others achieving a lifelong ambition.

Half way 

Unfortunately the rain didn't give us much respite and as we were approaching the summit it poured heavier and heavier. As well as physical training for my challenge this was also a good opportunity to test out my kit. My ‘waterproof’ jacket is not waterproof enough to handle the Welsh rain so I'm not going to risk it on Kili.

The wind picked up and the clouds were swirling around us. I actually thought I would be blown over! We could barely make out the trigpoint in the mist but as we carefully made our way to it we were really proud to have made it to the top!

We made it!

Grateful for the cafe at the top we dug into pastries and warmed up with hot chocolate. Unfortunately there was no view to admire though.

View from the top

The first half of the walk down was mostly in the rain so we had to pick our way carefully as everything was becoming even more slippery. As we overlooked one of the lakes below the late afternoon sun began to peak through the clouds for a while.

Sheep!

With just another half an hour to go I almost landed flat on my face. I tripped but luckily Lizz was there to break my fall. All that was going through my mind when I fell was “oh no, I’m going to knock Lizz off the mountain.” Apparently at that same second she was thinking, “oh no, Alyrene’s going to break her nose.” Luckily neither happened and after a lot of giggling we continued to the base.

2.5 hours up, 2 hours down and 1,085 meters climbed! What a great achievement but there’s still a long way to go to reach the 5,895 meters summit of Kilimanjaro.

If anyone would like to join me and the rest of the UNICEF Trekkers on my next adventure we’d love to welcome you to the team. For more info email trek@unicef.org.uk or sign up today!

Life on Inle Lake

Floating gardens, fishermen, jumping cats, stilt villages, handmade silver; Inle Lake has it all.

Perched on our wooden canoe with umbrellas for shade we spent the day meandering though villages and communities living on the lake.

The floating gardens cultivated by the Intha tribe utilise the lake’s richness. We careful sailed past row upon row of tomatoes. The ripened produce is sailed to shore on small dugout canoes appearing to almost sink with the weight.

Villages on stilts rose above us – although in the rainy season they would be much closer to the water.

Fishermen use the unique leg rowing technique; wrapping their foot around the paddle leaving both hands free for fishing.

Daily life on the lake looks simple; washing in the water, buying essentials from the stilted shops, farming and fishing. 

Tourism is also a source of income. Workshops with demonstrations of weaving, silver making, cigar rolling, etc make for an interesting stop. Although the tours include a few too many, especially with the inflated prices in the shops at the end of each workshop. I still couldn’t resist buying a few trinkets for gifts though.

One of the much talked about tourist attractions is Nga Phe Kyaung – otherwise known as the ‘Jumping Cat Monastery.’ Monks have trained their cats to jump through hoops and invite tourists to watch the show. As we sailed closer to the monastery we noticed the Buddhist chanting getting louder and louder. It wasn’t until we entered the monastery we realised we were actually attending a monks funeral! There were no jumping cats but the image of the embalmed monk in his coffin is one I’ll not forget.

Before sailing back to Nyaungshwe for sunset we cooled down with a quick dip in the lake. A refreshing end to my favourite day in Myanmar.  

Traditional Burmese Massage

Clearly signposted from the main street of Nyaungshwe (on the outskirts of Inle Lake) lays Win Nyunt’s Traditional Massage hut.

Greeted with a warm smile from Win Nyunt I was led into the airy wooden room, lined with high mattresses.

Burmese massage is similar to Thai – although not quite so harsh. Win Nyunt lay a thick blanket on my back and legs and proceeded to walk on me, using the wooden beams for support. I could feel the aches and kinks disappear.

A proud father of three Win Nyunt told me about his eldest boy (12) training to be a monk as his youngest, a beautiful 5 year old girl, pered through the curtains. He’s training his son and middle daughter in massage as his mama and grandmamma trained him. It will be his youngest turn when she turns 7 and they can all start working when they are 15/16.

When his son came home with a friend he introduced me (while continuing to massage out the travellers aches and pains.) The boys set up their make-shift DVD player and watched cartoons on the tiny screen. 

As the massage drew to a close his wife came in and asked me if she could give me some medicine. Why not? So she lathered on a mixture of menthol, almond and coconut oil before offering me a cup of tea as I played with the children.

A delightful family business I’d definitely recommend. 

Lunch with 1,500 monks

Adorned in their deep red robes monks appeared, lining the path, tightly holding their alms bowls. 89% of the Myanmar population are Buddhist and every Buddhist male is expected to become a monk and take up temporary residence in a monastery at least twice in his life time. The Maha Ganayon Kyaung monastery in Mandalay is home to 1,500 of these monks. At 11am every day they line the paths of the monastery and wait patiently for their lunch, which has to be served and eaten before noon. 

Even though there is a big sign welcoming tourists to watch this incredible spectacle and inviting us to take photographs I felt a little uncomfortable looking on as the line of hungry men and boys grew. The group of tourists on the other side of the road to us accentuated this discomfort. Laden with big bags of sweets they handed out their offerings as the monks walked passed towards the vats of simple food awaiting them. Unfortunately these tourists must have missed the sign asking people not to cross the monks paths as they zigzagged between them, rushing back to replenish their supply of sweets. Watching from afar, despairing at this act of generosity we wondered if even such big bags of sweets would be equally shared amongst the entire monastery. Unfortunately our wonderings were proved correct and we felt very sorry for the monks not only at the end of the queue to recive their lunch, but also missing out on the sweets.

I guess we can’t be too disparaging about the other tourists though as we ourselves took photos and made the visit to the monastery in the first place. 

Wanting to chat, practice their English and tell us about their faith some of the monks approached us. They appreciated our interest in their monastery and were very welcoming to all of the tourists, which definitely put us at ease. This is one of the many things I grew to love in Myanmar; the genuine interest and openness of everyone we met.

The monks ate and took a break before spending the whole afternoon studying. As they rested we wondered around the monastery, it was so peaceful and even living such a frugal lifestyle we could understand why people stay so long or rejoin later in life.

Transport in Bagan: Bikes, Taxis, Boats & Horses

A short plane journey from Yangon lays Bagan. Described as Burmese First Empire there are over 3,300 temples and pagodas here.

Our first choice of transport for sightseeing was push bikes.  Easily hired from most guest houses we lowered the seats (even in Asia our group of mostly 5ft 1 seemed short..!) and set off with our baskets full of water, sun cream and cameras.

With little traffic around we bezzed down the hills but in the midst of the ‘Dry Zone’ at over 35 degrees the uphill was a struggle... Veering off onto the dirt tracks on our ‘Temple Safari’ it felt as though we could be in Africa with acacia trees growing out of the dusty roads with dry heat seeping from them.

Cycling along the sand caused much amusement – not only to the locals watching the white girls becoming pinker and redder the hotter we got. Also for us as the back wheels skidded away. Somehow we all managed to stay upright, even after Lizz’s bike got a puncture.

For the full day of sightseeing we opted for an air-conditioned taxi. The six seated Toyota made for a more comfortable journey. Tourists have only recently been welcomed into the country after the tourism boycott was officially dropped by the NLD (National League for Democracy) in 2010. Unlike other wonders such as Angkor Wat there isn’t as much hassle from vendors or beggars at the main attractions here. The smaller temples usually have a gate keeper to unlock them. We didn’t quite work out if tipping was appropriate/accepted. Some gate keepers would accept, others ask, others refuse but the ones we felt most comfortable with were the ones who asked us to put our 1-500 Kyat (10-50p) in the donations boxes for restoration work.

This is why we were so shocked at one temple when a young boy dressed in a monks robe directly asked us for money as a “present” for him. On reflection we aren't sure if he was a monk as he also helped us down the narrow staircase by holding our hands (against our wishes.) Buddhist Monks are allowed no contact with women, not even to brush passed them in the street, so perhaps he wasn't a monk after all...

The journey to this and the nearby temples was idyllic though. We hired a boat from Nyaung U Jetty for a three hour cruise along the Ayeyarwady River. The breeze on the shaded boat was a welcome retreat from the scorching sun.

Another popular method of transport amongst travellers is the horse and cart. We made the wise decision to leave this until the heat had relented in the evening. It was so much fun clip-clopping through the streets at night with the flashing lights of the cart gleaming in the night sky. I’m glad it was only a half hour journey though as squeezing into the cart was a little uncomfortable.

The only form of transport we were unable to use was the renowned hot air balloon. Unfortunately the rides are only available between October to March but I’m sure it would have been a stunning way to appreciate the vastness of the ancient city. Ah well, next time...

Field trip diary: India by motorbike

Royal Enfields sweeping through the Indian roads. © Iain Crockart

I love my job. It allows me to take supporters on awesome adventures while raising vital funds for the world's children.

Me in India © Iain Crockart

In 2009, I was lucky enough to visit southern India on the back of a Royal Enfield bullet. What an incredible feeling, sweeping up mountain roads, through tea plantations and tiger reserves, eyes peeled to catch a glimpse of India’s wildlife.

Royal Enfields © Iain Crockart

The whole trip was memorable, but one particular day stuck with me. 

We set out at sunrise for a long day's ride. As we swept down the mountain the mist cleared and I could feel the sun beating down and smell jasmine in the air as we drove.

Southern India © Iain Crockart

We stopped for some chai (a refreshing, sweet tea) and met UNICEF health assistant, Ms Indrani. She was distributing polio drops to children in the area.

Ms Indrani shows us her map 

Back in 2009, India was one of four counties that hadn’t eradicated polio and its devastating effects. UNICEF works with India's government on a large-scale immunisation programme to wipe out polio and other childhood diseases.

Talking to Ms Indrani was utterly inspiring, and to see UNICEF’s work in action was just incredible.


Now, in 2012, we've had the news that India has reached a major milestone in the history of polio eradication – 12 months without a single new case! 

Traffic in India

Our ride continued through mountains and busy towns, where we carefully negotiated traffic. I can still taste the lunch we enjoyed from a basic but delicious local restaurant. We watched women below washing their beautiful saris in a vast river before laying them on the rocks to dry, and boys playing games in the water, laughing and splashing, as we tucked into a delicious south Indian curry.

Discovering India © Iain Crockart

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 

Trek for the children of Namibia: one month to go

This time next month I'll be in the Namib desert with 16 UNICEF fundraisers. We're trekking 115 kilometres through the oldest desert in the world to the Skeleton Coast, hiking over sand dunes and dodging hyenas and other wildlife. All in 35-40 degrees heat.

The challenge began months ago for the trekkers who've been training and fundraising to support the rights of children in Namibia.

One of our trekkers, Amy, has been fundraising in everyway she can think of. She's organised a regular vintage cake stall in her office,  put up a display at her gym with sponsor forms and a collection tin, given swimming lessons for 40 children at her local pool, and she's also busy with car boot sales and gigs. Phew!

Amy's not the only one to have organised gigs: another trekker, Phil, was sponsored to stay on stage for 24 hours solid and raised £2,600!

Other trekkers have been out with collecting buckets: Adrian raised £177 in just one day like this at Oxford train station.

There are BBQs, garden parties, quiz nights and many raffles going on to help the trekkers reach their target of £3,250 to take part in the trek.

As I write this I'm surrounded by cakes for a cake bake I’m holding in the UNICEF UK office to raise some extra funds.

Our trekkers are also raising money via our very own online fundraising site, My Fundraising.

These donations will be used to realise children’s rights in Namibia and the trekkers will have the opportunity to visit UNICEF projects.

Forty per cent of children in Namibia are not registered at birth. This means that schools, health clinics and other children's services are not provided. Not having a birth certificate makes children more vulnerable to trafficking or exploitation. We'll be visiting one of the 22 birth registration facilities that UNICEF has set up in partnership with the government. 

UNICEF uses sport as a way to educate children, promote a healthy life style and develop children’s skills. In Namibia we'll be visiting the Kwata Cricket Initiative at a local school and might even get to play in a mini cricket match with the girls taking part in the programme.

On our last day we'll visit an HIV prevention programme for high school children. UNICEF runs this with the Ministry of Education in 72 per cent of secondary schools in Namibia. It's a way to educate young people about HIV prevention and life skills, and with around 16 new infections a day in Namibia, it's a vital part of helping prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. 
  
I’m really looking forward to showing the trekkers what UNICEF is doing, and letting them see first hand just how vital their support is. I must say I'm not looking forward quite so much to the prospect of not showering for eight days!

If you're feeling inspired, you can read about our next trek, which will take us up the highest free-standing mountain in the world, Mount Kilimanjaro. 

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.

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.