Exhilarating, Enthralling, and an Adrenaline rush - that's a few words to describe my Saturday - which I spent white-water rafting on the River Nile! I managed to free the weekend and head to Jinja - and it was sooo much fun! Flips, wipeouts, floating in the Nile, being thrown about by a few grade 5's, and of course swallowing a little bit of the most famous river... A treat is certainly was! The campsite I was staying at had an absolutely stunning view of the Nile... words cannot describe - so you'll have to wait for the pics...
Between my last update and the rafting... We made some progress with the Health Centre - including agreeing and obtaining approval for Immunisations Days with the support of the Local District, having a free testing day, and other activities to get the local schools involved in the NGO's activities. The next few weeks will hopefully see the launch of these activities, which would be great for the local communities! I'm currently in Kampala, but as you can probably imagine, I'm looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in to the next few weeks in the village...
So just a short update, but will be back soon...
Monday, 29 June 2009
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Lights anybody?
Hey people,
After my last update - I spent the next day running around Kampala meeting various people from different organisations. It was a great day - and I got a brief insight into some of the activities the major organisations are focusing on within Uganda. The next day I was on a bus - I was transporting a bike for one of the colleagues - which made life quite interesting. On several occasions, the conductor and his friends tried to convince me that I had to pay for transporting the bike - and the rate varied almost each time... I continued to play one guy against the other - and ended up paying zilch! Much fun...
Following that, I've spent 2 weeks in the village. Even after 5 months, I think I'm still begrudgingly adjusting to the work ethic and time-keeping (although I think the situations that are arising are quite unique to this organisation). I've had the opportunity to talk to some local health centres and other interested parties - and as a result, have initiated a few potential collaboration activities. Now it's just a matter of getting the management to buy-in and proactively manage some of the activity, and thus motivate the rest of the staff!
The preparations for electricity are still on-going - I've learnt that contractors cause issues whatever the country! As such, quite a bit of work remains within the Health Centre, but the main lines are on track... I still can't imagine the difference it will make to the area. Just to give you an idea of the population in the immediate vicinity of where I'm staying - most of them are subsistence crop farmers - growing mainly beans, matoke (plantains) and ground nut, with some also growing Sorghum (mainly used for local brew - which is incredibly strong!), and a few involved in animal farming. The other main activity is a local tin mine - where there are over 500 men & boys working... this adds an interesting dynamic to the local area. There are a limited number of shops, and there is selling of firewood and other such amenities. Due to the limited crop produce - the main diet consists of matoke and beans.
So the waiting game continues... I've promised myself some whitewater rafting before I leave Uganda - so hopefully I'll be able to fit that in... but it's difficult to schedule with the ever changing itineraries!!
Until next time...
After my last update - I spent the next day running around Kampala meeting various people from different organisations. It was a great day - and I got a brief insight into some of the activities the major organisations are focusing on within Uganda. The next day I was on a bus - I was transporting a bike for one of the colleagues - which made life quite interesting. On several occasions, the conductor and his friends tried to convince me that I had to pay for transporting the bike - and the rate varied almost each time... I continued to play one guy against the other - and ended up paying zilch! Much fun...
Following that, I've spent 2 weeks in the village. Even after 5 months, I think I'm still begrudgingly adjusting to the work ethic and time-keeping (although I think the situations that are arising are quite unique to this organisation). I've had the opportunity to talk to some local health centres and other interested parties - and as a result, have initiated a few potential collaboration activities. Now it's just a matter of getting the management to buy-in and proactively manage some of the activity, and thus motivate the rest of the staff!
The preparations for electricity are still on-going - I've learnt that contractors cause issues whatever the country! As such, quite a bit of work remains within the Health Centre, but the main lines are on track... I still can't imagine the difference it will make to the area. Just to give you an idea of the population in the immediate vicinity of where I'm staying - most of them are subsistence crop farmers - growing mainly beans, matoke (plantains) and ground nut, with some also growing Sorghum (mainly used for local brew - which is incredibly strong!), and a few involved in animal farming. The other main activity is a local tin mine - where there are over 500 men & boys working... this adds an interesting dynamic to the local area. There are a limited number of shops, and there is selling of firewood and other such amenities. Due to the limited crop produce - the main diet consists of matoke and beans.
So the waiting game continues... I've promised myself some whitewater rafting before I leave Uganda - so hopefully I'll be able to fit that in... but it's difficult to schedule with the ever changing itineraries!!
Until next time...
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