Uganda Trip Oct 2019

There are highlights to any trip. For me, being able to see and meet so many of the children that we support is always a special time.
There were the usual practical things to deal with first. My colleague Rachel was very amused by my complete failure to negotiate down the fare for the Boda Boda motorbike ride. Saturdays are busy in any town centre and you do need to hold on as we weave in and out of the traffic. This year we were so pleased to see that the resurfacing work along Main Street has finally been completed (after three long years).
We were dropped off at Walakuba East and then had to negotiate the sticky mud paths between the houses and then along the fence to the main entrance. As we walked up to the ‘main hall’ (a large timber pole and corrugated iron shed), it was lovely to hear music and the children singing. Religion is very important here and all the Children’s Saturday Centre Days begin with an act of worship with songs and some Bible readings. I guess there were around 50 children present, plus some of the older vocational students who were helpers. So around half the children on the sponsorship programme. It is not easy to organise in term time because all schools now run on Saturdays, so each of the schools had to be contacted to ask for permission for the children to attend.
We were introduced and said a few words of greetings. Rachel is much better than me at putting names to faces, but I was able to recognise a few. The proceedings were interrupted for 20 minutes as the it rained so hard onto the tin roof, that you could not hear a word. The service ended and it was breakfast time – sweet posho porridge and doughnuts.

The letters that we had from sponsors had been given out earlier and after breakfast all the children got down to the serious task of writing back to their sponsors. For me was lovely to see some children on the programme writing to new sponsors who I introduced (Debbie :-)). Where the children were very young some of the older children helped. We were able to get some new pictures of the children, as always Senga was there to help facilitate and organise the children.

Time went quickly and the bell rang at 1pm for lunch time. Posho and beans. I could not believe the size of the portions that some of the little children had, but of course this will be their one main meal of the day, and at home they may not be able to eat so well.

We had been invited back to Pastor Alfred’s for lunch and had to make the very slippery 20 min walk back down through the slum. Along the way we provided some entertainment for the locals as at intervals Rachel and I had to hold onto to each other to stop ourselves alling over. We just made it to Alfred’s before the heavens opened again.

I generally come to Uganda in February, which is the sunny season, so I guess it is good for me to get a more representative experience of what life here is like. The locals were saying that the rains are much heavier this year and may last to December. One if the children writes in her letter that the heavy rains are damaging crops and are washing away seedlings. There are also reports of homes being washed away. It has made me realise that global warming is going to have the biggest impact on those who cannot afford it.

Where ever you are, at some stage or another, you have to do the paperwork, or governance stuff. Today was our Macedonia Vision Trustees meeting. We were told that this would begin at 10:00. We know Africa but felt we should arrive around this time. There were no other committee members present, so we were able to catch up on the latest news from Mercy, one of the Sanitary Pad manufacturing team.

There has been some upset in town. The street kids are growing up and are now teenagers, and one had killed a policeman. Understandably the reaction to this was that large numbers of police had gone out and detained large numbers of ‘street children’. The problem was that in Masese, most of the children look like they are living rough and they didn’t think to run away when the police came. So quite a number were detained. Many families then had to collect the necessary documentation (and some money) to get them released. Not a great situation all round. It highlights the need for practical skills training for teenagers who drop out of school (another parallel with life in the UK?).

Anyway it was now 11:00 and the first of Trustees arrived, followed a bit later by Pastor Alfred. The meeting actually began at 12:00 and went very well. We discussed how MVA UK could best support the work and agreed a memorandum of understanding setting out mutual responsibilities. These things cannot be rushed and the meeting closed around 4:00, ready for lunch. We walked out into the sunshine and through the upper ‘better’ part of Masese, there are some new buildings and quite well kept houses. Things are improving. A young boy was playing outside with an old bike inner tube. He waved as we went by. It was nice to see him playing, but he should have been at school. After a rather long business meeting it was good to be reminded what the work is all about.

We got a lift back to the hotel with Stephen. He was driving back to Kampala and had collected one of Alfred’s chickens. It sat happily in the back of the 4×4. I guess it thought it was going on holiday – little did it know….

It is the rainy season, last night we had a massive thunderstorm and heavy rain. The ground dries out pretty quickly but it was still really tricky navigating the paths through the slum. It is our second day there now and the people are getting used to seeing us. Young children shout Muzungu and wave, or run up and hold your hand. Families offer the tradition greeting – ‘how are you? ‘ to which the reply is ‘fine thanks’. Over the years we have seen gradual improvement, there are more roadside shops and most of the open Wraggi stills have gone.

We stopped at the house where the sanitary pad manufactory is housed. The machine was imported from India and it was intended that it should use locally sourced materials to make low cost product. The machines are all set up snd the pads sold well, but sourcing the materials has proved difficult. So most of the workforce are laid off while they are waiting for more materials.

We made our way up to the MVA Compound. It is good to see the students working hard – tayloring, hairdressing, building construction and motor vehicle mechanics. We caught up with Dickens, the Principal. He explained that the students had all done well in their exams last year. But they were struggling to find money for consumables. They have also had to meet the requirements of a new core curriculum. This includes computing (we took old laptops last year (thanks Eddie), Swahili and Business Studies. This has ment hiring several part-time teaching staff. There are many positives though, as several students have gone through the program and now have jobs.

We finished off the day discussing development plans and budgets with Pastor Alfred, the Director. He shared some of the difficult everyday decisions to be made – funding for additional latrines or replacement motor vehicle for the mechanics course? They had also had to find a considerable amount of money for the local witch doctor who some years ago had built a house on the land in front of the compound and had gained squaters rights. Not easy decisions but all part of life in Uganda.

It had been a good day and it was a nice ride back on the Boda Boda ready for a Nile Special and preparation for the meeting with the MVA Trustees tomorrow.

Wednesday morning, what a difference a good night’s sleep makes. Down for breakfast – fresh fruit, coffee and a chef ready to cook eggs to order. It is a sunny day and we can sit on the veranda overlooking the river.
</div>We took Boda Boda motorcycle taxis in to town and then went on up the hill to Masese. The mud paths were still very wet from last nights rain as we walked between the mud houses, between chickens, goats and small children to the MVA compound.

Senga (Ugandan for Auntie) saw us coming and walked down the path to greet us – ‘you are welcome’ she says giving us a warm gentle hug. Where ever you are, you will have someone similar, who is there at the start and the end of the day, working quietly in the background keeping things ticking over, on track, a very precious person.

We went to the office and started to update records of the sponsored children. You get to know the names – they are doing well, they graduated, she has become pregnant and left, his father died. There are around 80 sponsored children, it is difficult to remember all the faces. Today it was different. Could we see one of the girls who wanted to apply for a place at the Nile Vocational Institute?

T came in, and sat down. She looked around 17, was quietly spoken, neatly dressed, very polite.
<div>I was completely unprepared for the conversation that followed. I have been coming to Uganda for 12 years, it is the first time I have had to hold back tears.
Almost all the children in the slum come from broken families, unable to afford school fees without sponsorship. T had enrolled for nursery training at a local college. The sponsorship only covered 1/3 of her fees so her Mum has taken money from the community association to help pay, had been found out and sent to prison. T had completed the year but still owed the balance of the fees, she had taken odd jobs to support and look after her 9 year old sister. Her Mum is home but has anxiety and depression and cannot work, so T is the main carer for the family. There is no prospect of her paying off the debt, or finding the fees for her second year training.
She held it together till we prayed with her, then the tears silently flowed.

One story, just one of many, the reality of life in Masese, brought home to me in person.

When I arrived it was lovely to see our friend William waiting outside the airport with a big smi!e and warm greeting, it was then just a short drive to the airport hotel to pick up Rachel, who had arrived the night before.
The drive from Entebbe, through Kampala to Jinja is the part of the trip I least enjoy. It takes 3 our more hours of traffic jams and chaos to cover the 70 km.
Along the road there are hundreds of shops, roadside stalls and markets, busting with activity as everyone tries to make a sale, that they hope will provide some money for food that evening. This year there were some firsts. Our new route took us past a large fish market – you could smell it before you saw it. I have seen many types of goods on the back of bicycles and motorbikes, it is the first time I have seen a fridge. October and November are in the rainy season, fortunately we managed to avoid the tropical downpores along the way.
There were also several lorries off the road, this one narrowly missing some houses. They are a reminder of how dangerous the roads are here.
At last we were on the final approach to Jinja, over the impressive new road bridge (built with Japanese help last year) then along to the Paradise on the Nile Hotel and a welcome cup of tea with this wonderful view over the Nile.

There was a lovely sunset over the trees this evening as we waited for

Pastor Alfred, the MVA Director to arrive. He was 2 hours late having been to a funeral in one of the outlying villiages, because of the rain many of the vehicles got stuck and he ended up walking 5km down a muddy road. In spite of Brexit worries, it makes you realise that our life in the UK is not so bad.
Off to visit the MVA project in Masese tomorrow.

If you would like to see the pictures, please take a look in Instagram. @nigelharris57

Nigel Harris nigeldavidharris@netscape.net

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton