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I didn’t think that I would enjoy rural village life as much as I did in Uganda…

Just loved walking around the community, recognising people, talking to them about their day, their families, their farms…and understanding the challenges they have – although when you ask how they are, they are always fine!! Quite the British way which I cannot adapt to whichever country I am in 😉

Every morning, people would ask ‘how was your night?’ And if I had a shitty night’s sleep, I would of course say – which took them by surprise I think!

Walking through the village I’d also have a good chuckle at some of the shop signs – my dad seems to have set up shop and everything…!

I in particular enjoyed Fridays in the village – it’s market day which makes the streets busy with people and animals. Everything being sold from cows, goats, sheep, grasshoppers, Irish potatoes (they are just normal potatoes, but differentiated from sweet potatoes by adding Irish for some odd reason…but I guess the Irish are known for their spud culture!), tomatoes, bananas, sugar cane, socks, fabrics, hats, soap, sweets, belts, wellies … Yes, you name it!

As in so many places around the world, the Ugandans are also obsessed with the English Premier League football…most were Arsenal and Manchester United fans, although there were a few Liverpool and Chelsea fans scattered about as well… Nobody seems to know Charlton Athletic – don’t understand why!!

Anna and I went to a match shown at the local pub together with over a hundred other people…not only were we the only white people in the place, we were also the only women. Was a great atmosphere, though…the seating was super uncomfortable and it was fantastically hot in the place so the general lack of personal hygiene really comes through when crammed into an environment like that! 😷😃

The local pub is called Akaania…the manager is Moses and a really great guy…oh and he is also the village dentist! There’s a pool table, loud music for dancing, a chef making Rolex (a chapatti rolled with an omelette, cabbage and tomato – better than a kebab in my opinion – Anna enjoying one in the pic below!) for everybody who wants and can afford a snack… And their sign is also fab!!

Had actually planned a couple of weekends away for my last two weekends in Uganda, but I loved being around the community and with the people so much, so why go away? Instead I did some hikes around the area – great preparation for the Kilimanjaro climb which is now so terrifyingly close…

And the hikes are named with no humility whatsoever – two weekends ago it was Heaven (the only Heaven I will ever see!) and last weekend it was the Top of the World (which is so blatantly incorrect!) 😄

Picnic at Heaven was just a wonderful Sunday! Anna and I had taken over the kitchen in the morning to make a picnic which consisted of Guacamole (the avocados here are so tasty – and huge!), pasta salad and Chapattis. We started walked uphill, stopped briefly to ‘pick up’ Oscar & Demas and a few beers as well.

It is a very steep 1 hour climb, which we took slowly, thankfully…was tough going especially as the sun was baking hot but it was so unbelievably beautiful and when we reached the top, I totally understood the naming, the views were ace!

We had our picnic with the amazing views and onlooking cows – it was perfect!

The walk down was not as challenging as the way up, but some different muscles being used, so it’s all useful exercise…

But a greater challenge was to come last weekend… A long hike to the Top of the World and back… Almost 25km. This walk was less steep, but not at all ‘flat’ as Jeroen (the new Dutch volunteer) and I were told – because NOWHERE is flat in Uganda when you compare with both Denmark and Netherlands!
We set off together with one of the Bwindi Tourism Club guides, Kathleen (BTC is also one of Big Beyond’s community partners) and of course Oscar – he seemed to always be up for walk! And he is great company, and therefore also good motivation!

We spotted chameleon after chameleon – I say we…it was of course only the locals that spotted them…we also saw a poisonous lizard and caught a glimpse of a couple of baboons at the edge of the forest.

It was overcast, so a more manageable walk weather wise, but it also meant that it was inevitable that the rain would arrive at some point. We were only 15-20 mins away when the heavens opened, but we sought shelter and had our lunch as we waited for the rain to stop… the rain did however mean that the spectacular views we could have had at the top were covered by a huge fog. At one point we were struggling to see each other even though we were just a few meters apart. But suddenly the fog parted to just show us a bit of the forest for a few minutes… Stunning!

On the walk home we had a Coke Zero break (now that was heaven!) for another rain shower, and then a fast fast walk back to get to the pub for 6pm and a well deserved beer for us all.

I came away with two blisters (both healed now thankfully) and sore legs for the Monday, but was a great day!

In spite of this practice, I am still quite scared about starting the climb on Tuesday…will be trying to keep my phone powered for the six days (thanks to the solar panel charger presents I received – thanks guys!), so please do get in touch and encourage me – some funny stories should cheer me up at low moments.

One of the many highlights from my work in Uganda was gardening! Yes, I know I always moaned about doing gardening back in London, but it’s just not the same here for different reasons…

The company! Sunday is the gardening expert on the team here. He’s just a great person, calm, eager to learn, hardworking and has a wise, old head in spite of his young age (25!). We spent hours weeding and talking about different crops – both local and exotic (Elin just for you: they call cauliflower an exotic vegetable!). He had many herb seeds that he just did not know what to do with, so we decided to create a herb garden…was a great day! I was the ‘designer’ and Sunday was doing most of the hard work, but I think he loved the company and input…and as is his motto – ‘two heads are better than one’ 😊

The purpose! The garden is called Okakuza Amagezi which means Developing Knowledge and it is a garden managed by Sunday and the Big Beyond team. It is a place for the community farmers to learn about how to get the most out of their lands. It demonstrates composting and how that can make a difference to the crop quality, it has nursery beds, experimental crops, different ways of growing the crops etc. The garden is actually being moved to a new plot – so it has been interesting to get to help with planning the layout and the different purpose areas!

(Paul, you’d have loved it!! And your drawing would have been much better as well 😄)

The garden also has space for community members to come for workshops or just to gather…which for example the performance ladies and the veawing ladies do every week. Some inspirational ladies…they work hard at home, do all the work in the fields, take care of the children but also find time for what essentially is a hobby even though they hope to make some money as well of course…

I have now arrived back in Kigali, Rwanda for a quick stopover before flying back to Tanzania later today. A little weird being back to internet connection, the city and lots of people – makes me wonder how I will feel when I get back to London in a couple of weeks…

It was with an extremely sad and heavy heart that I left Uganda yesterday – the nature, the people…just the entire life there. I so wanted to stay longer and do more…do more to help! I suspect that I will find a way to return there in the new year…feels like unfinished business!

But now that I have a day of wifi, I have plenty of blog posts that have been pending due to the lack of connectivity in Uganda, I was really struggling to include pictures, so now I will get posting more about the life in the community there and my experiences with the people and the different projects.

Oh, before I departed we got an update on the baby that was left in the toilet. The mother was found, but she refused the baby – she had five children already and simply could not cope with another… The baby has been taken to the orphanage and the mother has been jailed. Such heartbreak for the entire family…and what will happen with those other five children. 😥

The question we all ask is ‘what or who is to blame?’ The mother? The culture? The man who fathered the child? The church?

I guess probably a combination of all… Many things could be done to avoid these situations in the future… family planning, education, women empowerment – but that requires time, dedication and funds – it’s not a quick fix…sadly! Because so many gorgeous children are living in extreme poverty in that community… 💔

 

 

 

It’s the 2nd December and I have not yet heard a Christmas song or seen a Christmas tree. I have not been stressing about the normal xmassy things and I’ve had no mulled wine – and I am actually enjoying it!

I think it’ll make me enjoy the two weeks of Christmas ‘stuff’ I will have when I get back more than normal…sometimes I’m all sick of Christmas before reaching the 24th December! Sound familiar??

I have however had one nice festive surprise. Before I left, my mum gave me a little bag to take – the note on the bag said, open on 1st December – so I did!!

Advent Calendar!! 😀 Lots of little envelopes – one for each day of December until I reach Denmark. There was liquorice yesterday – yum!

Thank you, mum – You’re the best! ❤️

Although I am travelling around some amazing places, living the dream and generally just loving my life, today is one of those days when I am only too aware that real life is happening around me…

Am sure the clashes between a local King and the state in the region of Kasese here in Uganda have not made it onto the variety of news media available in Europe – too much celebrity rubbish, terrorism, disasters and more local news to focus on…but over 60 people died in what is called a land and power dispute this week… Uganda have kings in some (or maybe all…am not too sure) regions and it seems that there might have been a desire to break free from the state / president power in Kasese… It’s led to the death of many innocent people.

And this morning famine was reported in one of the other regions… It’s so bad that they have had to start eating rats. With over 80% of Ugandans working within agriculture and considering the fertile lands and rainfall it is difficult to understand how just one small part of the country are starving…why is nobody helping?

And if that wasn’t enough, we were told that a woman had given birth overnight here in the village and left the baby in a toilet. The baby is alive and the search continues for the mother or her family, because the state does not want to pay to put the baby in the orphanage unless absolutely necessary – it’s expensive.

Just so heartbreaking…feel for the mother, she obviously did not want the child but had no choice but to carry to term and give birth…I feel for that poor baby, never wanted and now probably has to grow up all alone…

A sad day and one for reflection – am feeling thankful and fortunate for my life more than normally. Let’s all find time every day to find something positive, something to be grateful for – because we are all better off than so many people in this world…

23rd November 2016

It wasn’t exactly ‘gorillas in the mist’, more like gorillas in the rain!

The 7am thirty minute boda ride (motorbike ride) was filled with anticipation and excitement. I had had a very bad sleep but was wide awake and ready for the adventure.

After our compulsory briefing (which was prolonged by a group of Russians which needed to have everything translated – tut 🙄), we got allocated into groups. There are five habituated gorilla groups from the Rushaga gate where we entered the Bwindi Inpenetrable Forest. We were just four people in our group and the gorillas we were trying to find are called Nsongi and there are eight gorillas in that group including one silverback and one baby.

I decided to get a porter even though I did not have a heavy bag, but is good to support the community and in the end, I was so pleased that there was someone there to push and pull me on the slippery slopes in the forest! Benson was my porter’s name.

We set off and walked into the forest for about an hour and a half. At this point it was still dry and we were all enjoying the hike, the views and the company – the other people in the group were a German couple in their 70s (they were so brave and tough throughout!) and a young Dutch girl.

As soon as we got close to the trackers who had set out earlier in the morning to find the gorillas, it started raining – is not a rainforest for nothing I guess! And that was also the time we had to come off the trail and into the ‘Inpenetrable’. The guides had to use machetes to clear a path for us…it was getting more and more slippery and wet but then… a mother gorilla with a baby and another female gorilla…right there in front of us, about 2m away.

The guide was telling us that the silverback was not with them which meant that they would move soon as well… And they did shortly after so we followed them. Which wasn’t that hard at first, just had to follow the sounds of the loud and rather prolonged farts that gorillas are able to ‘produce’. 😀

The mother gorilla wasn’t that pleased to be followed however and got a bit aggressive – so we kept a bit more distance…plus the rain was getting heavier and heavier so we had to slow down anyway.

…and then we heard it, the sound of the silverback drumming his chest! Wow – what an amazing moment. You see it in the documentaries amd films but hearing it live is quite special.

He was however really on the move, apparently chasing another group of gorillas to fight their silverback (not sure how the guides knew this, but I believed them!) so we only managed to catch a few glimpses of his massive, silver-haired back. But we kept hearing him show off with his chest beating.

At this time the rain was so immense that the only thing we could do was to stand still and try to keep our cameras dry – and I think it was actually the only thing I was either wearing or carrying that stayed dry. My phone got soaked, the packed lunch was damper than it should have been and my hiking boots had puddles in them.

The rain settled after an hour and a half and we made one last attempt to see the gorillas again – and we found a couple of the females hanging out in a large tree..

And that was it for us. Sadly we did not have a chance to just sit with the gorillas and see them play etc as we know so many others have experienced, but hey – if it was easy, it wouldn’t be special. And it’s a great excuse for me to come back and try again 🙂

 

 

Tomorrow is gorillas day! I just cannot wait – am so excited to be able to tick yet another thing off my bucket list… And have actually been thinking a lot about that list and also reflecting on how time just flies by, soon another year has gone!

I am still not sure how it is possible that I am 40 years old. In my head I often think that I am still 27! The years just seem to have passed by so quickly! Yes, there’s been a whirlwind of fantastic experiences and wonderful people along the way but also quite a few trials and tribulations. But that’s life, right? We learn through all of it…good or bad! And now that I have most likely lived half my lifetime what are the things I have learnt? Great!! A chance to make another list 😀 here’s my top 20 in no particular order. Feel free to comment and add to the list – would love to hear what you’ve learnt!

1. A sense of humour can get us through the toughest of situations (with a healthy dose of sarcasm as well in my case)

2. It’s OK that some people don’t like you, leaves more space for the people who do

3. Don’t delay your dreams, there’s never a perfect time (I’ve learnt that the hard way!)

4. Do something to treat yourself each month (yes, champagne counts!)

5. Be curious – travel as much as possible – savour the experiences and the moments

6. Save money for when you really need it (like when you want to take a six month sabbatical!)

7. Love is never easy (I’m living proof)

8. Be humble and vulnerable – and don’t take yourself too seriously

9. Try to forgive – you gain nothing from being bitter

10. It’s impossible to please everyone (so why do we always try?)

11. Be honest – especially with yourself and your loved ones

12. You never stop learning – be open to new ‘stuff’

13. Work hard for what you believe in

14. Life is too short to always have a clean house (unless you can afford a cleaner, then I guess it’s quite nice!)

15. Listen to your body and be healthy (I have been so bad at this and am now paying for it)

16. Do everything you can for family – we do not choose our family but we should always be there for each other

17. Take pride in what you do

18. You do not have to plan everything (tough one for me!)

19.  True friends are more important than one can ever imagine (you know who you are, thank you for being there – I love you!)

20. Knowing if you’re happy is the biggest riddle in life (but knowing when you’re not seems to be easy to figure out!)

16th November

Since it was Wednesday and cold, Anna (the marketing intern here) and I decided that going to the pub was the only right thing to do…

And there we met Oscar & Demas – two young carvers here in the village and some of the Big Beyond project partners – and what a hoot that was! Am not sure I can explain it so it’s funny for other people to read – might just be one of those ‘you had to be there moments’ but I’ll give it a go anyway…

Oscar started off by asking why British people feel like they have to thank for everything many times… “They say thaaaaaank you, thaaaaank you so much and thaaaannk yoooooou again”, he proclaimed. “It doesn’t sound honest?” Anna and I had no answer really, just the British way, right? It seemed that they preferred the German to-the-point tourist behaviour of asking “How much? 5,000? OK!” Or even the more direct (or rude) approach of the Mexicans “How much for your f*cking gorillas?

Amongst the funny tourist anecdotes we enjoyed the variety of different noises they make instead of saying a word..not unique to these guys, all the Ugandans seems to do it…for example: “Eeeeeeeeh” mainly used when agreeing with something or acknowledging something or ‘Aah’ used for when understanding something or emphasising something and ‘Iiiiiiihhhh’ for when they are surprised or amazed by something. It’s hilarious!

There were just so many other language things during the evening which really cracked me up…I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time…here are a few of my favourites.

“Oh you mean the pastor, the brown man?”
Apparently he is just not black enough to be black!

“It is dericious?”
What?? Aaaaah, delicious! They pronounce the letters r and l differently here, it causes quite the confusion.

“Now or now, now?”
Now can be anytime within the next few hours, but now now is actually now!

“I don’t mind about that!”
Means ‘I don’t believe you’ – also confusing at times!

“You cannot summarise a beer!”
To ‘summarise’ something here, means to finish something off quickly. And it seems that it is not possible to do with a beer! 😄

And finally, towards the end of the evening I learnt a new word in the local language – Dakutera! It means ‘I will beat you’ – should come in handy! Haha.

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Oh btw – really wanted to include some pics but the connection here is so bad! Apparently they tried to upgrade to 3G here but instead messed it all up so it is now even worse than before!

12th November 2016

My first Saturday in Uganda started off with a 3 hour walk/hike to nearby Lake Mutanda… As you can see from the pictures, nowhere is flat here, so it was an excellent workout (might actually manage to get into some sort of shape whilst here!) even though I cheated by having a guide who carried my overnight bag – thanks Kacere! …or Joseph… People here all have a local and an English name.

I arrived at Lake Mutanda Resort where a very nice room and a warm shower was waiting for me, followed by an excellent lunch of pumpkin soup and a cheeky banana cake as dessert. The views for lunch were spectacular!

Now relaxing on the restaurant balcony – being all alone is giving me a chance to think about next year for the first time since I left London. I still have not planned anything for after Christmas and all of a sudden I am thinking of a lot of different options… Bugger! Have to make some decisions… but me and decisions… Hopeless!! 🙄
Time to make a list! 😄

The rains starts falling – it has rained every day since I got here, sometimes for hours, sometimes for 15 minutes. It is so peaceful…in spite of the many sounds around me… thunder rumbling in the distance, the wind disturbing the leaves on the trees, children’s voices from a canoe in the lake, birds singing – and so many different birds! – goats making themselves heard and the rain falling on the balcony roof. Wow! Actually it’s better than wow – just don’t know the right word! Every day I cannot believe how lucky I am!