My First Few Days in Uganda

The flight to Entebbe was uneventful and my ride into town was waiting for me which was a relief. After speaking to Miriam about her graduation ceremony the next day, I basically got to the guesthouse and flopped into bed.

I was up again at 6am and had a bit of breakfast at 7am. Miriam, her father, Tom and her mum, Margaret, arrived at 7.30 and off we went to Nsambya Nursing College. Each graduand was given 2 tickets for guests, but Miriam obviously wanted three - so a local Catholic priest from the same tribe as Tom provided me with a Special Visitor invitation - so problem solved! The only problem was that I had to sit in the Special Visitors tent, not with Miriam's parents - once again I felt pretty exposed, being the only muzungu (white man) among about 400 people.

The graduands entered at about 9.30 - see a short video. Some time after they held a mass with great pomp and ceremony and with about 10 priests! This was followed by 5 or so speeches and some entertainment which included some traditional dancing - this all took us to about 2pm at which time the graduands actually graduated and took their professional oath. The end of proceedings occurred about 3pm whereupon we were all fed and watered.

After the ceremony, I was to host an early dinner at Piato Restaurant. I thought we were arriving a bit late, but in true Ugandan form, we were the first ones there - others arrived from 15 to 90 minutes later! Anyway, we all had a good time and he food was great.

By the time I got back to the guesthouse, I was exhausted.

The next day (Saturday) I had some mundane stuff to do so I went to the bank, then to a supermarket and then to an Orange store to buy a internet dongle and some airtime. Wakisa were holding a luncheon for Miriam at about 1pm, including all the girls currently at the centre. Interestingly, Vivian had an English lady called Anne staying with her from Belgium and she was good friends with Hugh & Barbara Cox, formerly from St Pauls, Castle Hill!

Miriam gave a very encouraging speech to the girls, letting them know that making a mistake doesn't mean the end of the world and that God is a forgiving God, not a punishing one. I spent lots of time playing soccer with Miriam's son, Shadrack and Dorcas's son Ezra. The last to arrive was one of Miriam's friends from her time at Wakisa, Goretti and her daughter, Anita. They arrived at about 4pm, just as a storm hit.

Today (Sunday) I slept in and then had a Skype call with Margaret, Kathryn & Maurice. Everything at home was OK and we just chatted about what had been happening on the two sides of the world. I was also supposed to chat with Penny, Scott & Riley but I couldn't make contact.

Later I walked into town to attend a service at Watoto Church - I got the times wrong and so ended up sitting in the overflow area. As I came out, the skies opened up and I experienced a torrential downpour with the gutters flowing very fast and almost overflowing - not to worry, I just waited with everyone else and then got a boda home.

Kenya - Up To Sept 26th

Friday 20 Sept - off to Teen Ranch today with Sharon, Pete, Liz & Teri. Many trucks on the Mombassa Rd requiring a lot of overtaking moves. We had a quick lunch at Emali which was about halfway – the 5 of us ate for about $12 including a soft drink (soda) each. Then off to Kimana which was about 90 km down a very good Chinese-built road to Loitoktok. Teen Ranch Kenya is about 1km past Kimana and we found it just by a fluke. It was good to finally meet Bob Ockenden who had been there for about 2 weeks. Tony Piper, from Winmalee, has been a supporter for some time but this was his first trip to Africa. Amazingly, he knows my boss, Ken Pullen and has even attended the same church! We shared the tent accommodation.

Saturday 21 Sept – after breakfast, we shared a devotion & prayer and then got into the work, drilling 20mm holes in the concrete pylons to take threaded rod. (the Creans had gone off to Amboselli NP for the day). Then started drilling and plugging more 20mm holes for the wall baseplates. At 4pm we downed tools as Bob, Pete, James and Benard were off to Nairobi to collect the Scottish team the next morning. Pete was also returning home that evening although he had to spend all the next day in the airport! Tony and I headed off for a hot bucket shower and the Creans returned about 6pm, at which time, we had a dinner of leftovers and chatted around the fire.

Sunday 22 Sept – a day to remember! Bob sent us off to a church service as Tony had not experienced one. We were guests of course and duely seated on the stage. While the singing and dancing were great, the fact that it went for 3.5 hours was a bit much for us. We got back to camp about 2pm and met the Sottish team of Dan, Chris, Jenny, Heather, Sarah, Laura, Freya & Jen Ockenden. After they got settled in, we spent the afternoon at the pool at Amboselli Lodge, a very up-market resort that costs $350 per night! You can see a view of the pool here.

Monday 23 Sept - was a work day, the guys putting up the main trusses while the girls all varnished the 50-odd purlins and lower wall sheets.

See one of the main trusses going up here.

Tuesday 24 Sept - we headed off to one of the local schools to speak to the various classes and give the school gifts that the Scottish team had brought with them – the kids were very cute, well-behaved and quite advanced compared to Aust kids. We then visited a souvenir shop, the Masai livestock market and the weekly Kimana market which, as usual, had just about anything you could want.

Dan & Chris bought a goat which they named Megan – I'm not sure how long it will last after they leave! We all worked the rest of the day and were in bed by 9pm.

Wednesday 25 Sept – the Scots and Tony were off on a safari to Amboselli NP today, so I worked with Bob and the local guys till lunchtime. Patrick, my driver, was supposed to collect me at 12.00-12.30pm but didn't arrive till 2pm. This would make it impossible to meet with Angela Stevens, a young Aust missionary, at the agreed time of 4pm. I changed this to 5pm but in the end it didn't work out – there were such a large number of overladen, underpowered trucks on the Mombassa Rd that progress was very slow. In fact, we didn't get back to Sharon & Pete's till 6pm! I was supposed to stay at a hotel in town but Patrick wouldn't have had time to take me there and then return to collect Teri at 7.30pm. So I decided to take up Pete's offer of staying the night.

Thursday 26 Sept – Liz headed off to her volunteer job at a kindergarten and Sharon & Pete headed off to the farm they work at. I finally had time and internet to look at my emails before walking to the local shopping centre to meet Stella who was going to take me to see the Kibera Card Project. We met at Dorman's Coffee shop and had a chat and a coffee for 30 mins and then took two matatus to the edge of the Kibera slum. This is a great project where ladies from the slum are employed to make African cards for sale locally, as well as in Aust and the US. There are currently about 23 ladies employed. Two more matatu trips and I was back to back my bags and get out to the airport for my flight to Entebbe in Uganda. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately), the traffic was light so I had a 3 hour wait, but this allowed me to get my journal up-to-date and to prepare this blog post.

Nairobi - Sept 19

15 hours to Abi Dhabi and then a 3 hr stopover. Wanted to take a photo of the sun just coming up (the sky was misty with sand and so the sun was easy to look at and was a pinkish yellow), but it was the that I found that I had left the camera battery in the charger in the big bag in the hold of the plane. I later met a German lady who let me put my SD card into her camera and take a couple of shots (see one below)

Airport was chaotic and plane left 25 minutes late. Watched "A Good Day to Die Hard". The driver Patrick picked me up at Nairobi Airport after taking only 20 mins to get through Immigration, customs & collect my bag. Roads are pretty good and the traffic was better than diabolical. Am staying with the Creans tonight.

Sharon, Pete, Liz & friend Teri

Off to Teen Ranch near Loitoktok in the morning.

Leaving Day!

Well, today is the culmination of much planning & expectation. God has put me in touch with some amazing people and so I am sure that He has gone before me and prepared a way. I am also secure in His protection, even though I won't be doing anything silly to put myself in harms way.

You'd think that given the long lead time of this trip, that I'd be all prepared way ahead of time - but no - I'm off to the bank to organise money, then to the shops to do some last-minute purchases! Then ironing and packing, as well as making a motor accident claim - I backed out of the garage on Sunday right into Kathryn (elder daughter) & Maurice's car! Not much damage to their car but enough to Margaret's car to make a claim.

I'll drop in to see Penny (younger daughter), Scott & Riley (grandson) this afternoon, before Kathryn & Maurice drop me at the airport.

Then 15 hours to Abu Dhabi, a 3 hr layover and finally another 5 hrs to Nairobi. I'll be staying with Sharon & Peter Crean for the night (just met them by email looking for a borehole drilling contractor). Sharon is the Kenyan Director for Beyond Water. Patrick, their driver, will be collecting me from the airport.

The following morning, they have offered to drive me to the area of Oloitokitok (check it out on Google maps) which will take about 4-5 hours. They're bringing their tent and will stay at the Teen Ranch Kenya site for the night. They were involved in Christian camping in New Zealand before coming to Kenya. I received a Teen Ranch Scotland newsletter at work yesterday and found this photo of the current dining room (I think!)

There is a team of young people coming from Scotland this Sunday - I think the idea is that we put a roof on!

The following Wednesday I'll return to Nairobi, catch up with a couple of people and then head off to Uganda on Thursday evening.

More posts when I'm able!