So what is Uganda really like?

Uganda : my first impressions

Taxi journey home

  

I have to admit that a lot has changed from my first day in Uganda to now having been here 2 months (can't believe it was a month when I first started writing this post!) So far I have written a lot about the Smile projects and the people we are working with. Since we have now had time to settle into being in Nansana in Kampala, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my first impressions of Uganda.

I hope that it will give you an insight into what life is like here. We are loving 'the pearl of Africa' more and more and Kampala is fast becoming our second home.

My favourite thing about Uganda so far….

The people! From the Smile volunteers I am working with and friends at church to the children and teachers I have met, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. The children have stolen my heart and always make me smile because they just love being with and playing with you despite the language barrier. It is such a blessing to spend time with them and get to know each of them as individuals.

 I am so grateful to the people who have supported me to be here to share this time with them and I am trying to make the most of every day.

Good friends at church

Children at kids club at FBC

What I am finding the most challenging….

Sometimes I find it hard to be in such a big and busy city because I am used to living in a quieter neighbourhood but I’m getting used to it. It’s not that I don’t like cities, as I’ll happily go to London for the day at home, but the constant buzz was quite overwhelming at first. In the first week especially, I had to remind myself that Kampala was exactly where God was calling me to be and trained myself to see the beauty of the fact that God loves every person in the city.  

Last week we walked up a hill to see the city from above and it really was a beautiful view. 

Hill walk

  

Enjoying the view



At the top of the hill with our friend Georgie

It is a strange experience to be across the world in a different country when I have just finished school! I miss my family and friends at home and sometimes it seems like I’m living in a parallel world. However, I’ve learnt to rely on God for so much because I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. Phillipians 4:13 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' has been a verse that has really encouraged us and that we have prayed over ourselves.

I have started to settle in more now and am a lot more comfortable in the city. I now feel comfortable getting the hour taxi to church in the day if Lois and Kate are staying in and am grateful to friends who make sure I get home safely.

I am really appreciative of encouraging friends- it makes such a difference to hear from people back home.

What typical street in downtown Kampala looks like

It is also a real challenge to see the great needs amongst the families and children we are working with as we have seen a lot of poverty whilst we have been here, particularly during community outreach. This is something we have been praying about as a team and I have been drafting a post about it.

The weather…

The weather isn’t as hot as I was expecting all the time, which I’m glad of as we are very active. However, it’s still t-shirt weather and I have only had to pack a cardigan or jumper a few times so far. October and November are part of the rainy season, which explains why it has been cooler. When we reach the dry season, it will be a lot hotter!

When it rains, it really pours! 'Raining cats and dogs' doesn't really cover it- it's more like 'raining bears and elephants.'  Everyone runs for cover and rain is a legitimate excuse for being late to somewhere. In fact, if you power on through the rain to get somewhere, you’ll probably find you’re the only one and it the event will start late anyway. I've also found it interesting that it seems to rain at the same time on a particular day every week because I'm so used to the randomness of English rain.

Black skies and sun at the same time

The currency…

The exchange rate between Ugandan shillings and Great British Pounds is around 5000 shillings to £1 so it feels like you have a lot of money in your purse even when you only have 10p in English money. We are getting used to what is a reasonable amount to charge for different products. Sometimes people try to charge us more because they know we’re not locals e.g. for boda rides to school but once they see we know the correct price, they agree to it. 

The food…

Kate serving food at school

The food here is delicious! I am enjoying the local favourite of a chapatti, which is a flatbread of Indian origins, which has become very popular in Uganda. We have chapattis for lunch most days  at Ruth Mother Care School, where it is usually served with rice and beans.

Chaptti

Other foods we eat here:

-          Cassava, which is basically like a parsnip but not as sweet. Cassava chips are my favourite!

-          Yam  

-          Posho- it looks like mashed potato but is a flour paste thickened up. I haven't tried making it but a friend here has promised to teach me :).

-          Goat

-     Rolex- a chapatti filled with vegetables a chapati filled with eggs, onions, cabbage or kale, and tomatoes,

-          Matoke- a kind of stewed banana.

-          A small fried doughnut, which we eat with samosas for breakfast at school

-          The fruit here is amazing, especially papaya and mango!

-          African tea- I’m not the greatest fan of English tea and never drink it but I like the tea here because it’s much sweeter.

Making chapattis

Lois and Gabit making chapattis at our house

Anna and I rolling out chapattis on graduation day at school

When we made lasagne for our friends

Church and friends….

The outside of KBC

Kampala Baptist Church (or KBC as it is abbreviated to most of the time) is so friendly. We have made lots of friends and everyone always comes to greet us. As I am writing, this is the first evening I haven’t been at church for six days, which should give a good idea of how much I love being there.

It is a really social place so even if you aren't involved in a ministry there for that evening, there's always someone to chat to. I am so thankful for the friendships we have been able to build quickly as it is such an encouragement and support in a new place and it is always good to have people to cheer you up and make you smile when it hasn't been so easy.

Kate and I have joined the Christmas and youth choir, which has been good for getting to know more people. I am looking forward to the Christmas cantata performance next month. We get to dress up in floor length dresses whilst the men men in suits, so it should be a fun formal occasion and a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Kate and I have been practising learning the songs in Luganda together to make sure we get the words right.

We have been going to both the Saturday Bible study and youth service, which Kate and I sing at, as well as the Sunday morning service when we can. It has been lovely to meet up with Nikki, a friend from my home church on Sunday, who is also working in Kampala.

Everyone at church is full of such faith and joy, which is a real blessing for us.



Youth and students at Thank God It's Friday
(I'm in the pink t shirt on the far right|)

Good friends at church- Kate and I with Emma and Reagan

Transport...

One of the things that I immediately found was a shock to the system when I arrived in Uganda was the transport system. It is one thing to be told of crazy driving and another thing to experience it.

Here in Kampala, there are two main types of public transport: the taxi and the boda boda.

 The taxi is like what we would call a minibus in the UK but licensed to carry fourteen passengers and a lot less serene. In the local language, it is called a matatu. My first experience of a taxi was on the way to church on our second day here and it was an interesting experience to say the least. At that point, I still had my English mind set of ‘health and safety’ drummed into my mind. So you can imagine the thoughts going through my mind when I realised shortly after getting in that the driver was driving on the wrong side of the road to overtake about three other taxis and then stopping to load on more passengers so there were over twenty of us instead of the licensed fourteen. Poor Kate was even sat on! We have also learnt how to manoeuver our way out of the taxi wearing skirts and learnt to be patient when you have to get out of the taxi for the twentieth time on the same journey to let other passengers out. I like to call them ‘work out’ journeys.

Taxi rank in Kampala

 The more unique form of transport is the ‘boda boda’, which is best described as a motorcycle taxi that you hail in the same way as a taxi. There are thousands in Kampala because they are the quickest and most direct way of transport around the city as they are able to weave in and out of traffic jams and you can be driven straight to your destination. It seems they can dodge any kind of obstacle in their way! Whereas, in a taxi you have to pass the stops of all of the other passengers and then perhaps have to walk a short way too.

Those of you who know me know that I’m not the biggest fan of fast moving things like rollercoasters and I’d never been on a motorbike before coming here so I was quite nervous about my first ‘boda boda’ ride. Thankfully, it was on the hill up the Smile house on the way back from church rather than on the busy main roads so I’m surprised to say that I actually quite liked it. Thank you to Anna Strain for sharing one with me and going on the back so I wasn’t afraid of falling off the back. We have to get on bodas to get to Ruth Mother Care School on Tuesday and Wednesday so I am slowly getting used to the experience and have gone on one on my own. I’ve never held onto anything so tightly as the back of the boda whilst going up a hill or down a ditch but maybe by the end of my time here, I’ll be an expert boda passenger!!

Boda bodas

Typical street in Kampala

Unusual/interesting l things I have noticed….

-          The names of businesses have a personal feel to them more so than anywhere else I’ve been and often attach some religious identity to them, for example I have seen God Bless Salons and Immaculate Heart Kindergarten. My favourite name for an organisation or business however has to be the Lion King nursery.

-          Similarly, the taxis also have a personal identity as they each have a word or phrase painted on the front windscreen, for example ‘God bless’, ‘Praise the Lord’ or ‘Manchester United’ and ‘Harry Potter.’ I think it’s an original way to display something about yourself in public.

Taxi windscreens

-          Power cuts aren’t so bad if you try to make them fun! We are very lucky that the Smile house has a generator that we are allowed to use sometimes but we have had a few power cuts in the evening. They’ve involved learning to cook with a head torch and having deep chats over hot chocolate in the dark because all our electrical devices have ran out of battery. 

-          What I have heard about ‘African time’ is true. It's teaching me to be patient because if you are told to be ready at a certain time, you won’t necessarily be leaving then. In a way, it's quite freeing! You could be leaving a few hours later or even earlier so please bear with me if you’re trying to organise a Skype session time.

 

-          If you like animals like goats and chickens, here is the place to come! We encounter lots of roaming goats on the hill from our house to the road and I shared a long taxi journey with a chicken on the seat next to me the other day. Lois even tried to adopt a kitten the other day and Kate is determined to catch a chick at some point.

Goats on the road

Where we live

The Smile house where we are living is in a suburb of Kampala called Nansana. It is set back
from the main road up a hill, which gives it a more rural feel even though we are in the capital city as it is about a twenty minute walk. I love green spaces and am used to living in leafy Buckinghamshire so I am grateful for that. Walking up and down the hill everyday also makes me feel less guilty about all the amazing food I'm eating!!

On the way up the hill to the Smile house

Kate and Gabit walking home

  

  

We climbed through the hatch because we lost the key to the door

The Smile courtyard

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. It makes such a difference to us. Please pray for:

- Our health as Kate and I have had flu in the past week.

-The Christmas parties we will be running for the children at Family Believers and Blessed Word churches in the next few weeks.

-Our plans for the Christmas period as we wrap up our work on the projects for a few weeks.

-Safety in the Christmas season as we travel

 Some people have been asking for my address, so I thought I'd put it on my blog so it's easy to find. Thank you to everyone who has asked! :

Smile Charity Uganda

PO BOX 5895

Kampala

Uganda

Love from Uganda x

Bubbles, ballet and cardigans!

 

Ruth Mother Care with the teachers and children



Last week I wrote about how quickly time is going here and that remains the case- I still can't believe we are into our second month here! They do say time flies when you're enjoying yourself.

This week I have been thinking about appreciating each day I am here and making the most of the opportunities I have here both for others and myself because before I know it six months will have gone by.  I really feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work with the children and families Smile work with every day.

The verse that has been reminding me about this during this week is Psalm 118:24.



Appreciating each day here

Weekly update 2nd-8th November

Monday- In catch up class at Family Believer's Church in Nabulagla, we had to be quieter because there were exams going on in the school next door to the church. We wrote out grids to practice writing the letters ‘a’ and ‘A’, through which I learnt that perhaps I need to practice my handwriting too!  I helped some of the children by holding the pencil with them. Afterwards, we got out bubbles as a treat and I've never seen children so excited ever.

 

After class



Bubble time -Lois

 

Bubble fun

Tuesday- At Ruth Mother Care, I was in P2 again in the morning to teach literacy. I revised the topic of transport with them for two hours in preparation for their exam next week. After they could sort types of transport into different categories,  I got out the colouring pencils we brought with us so that they could choose their transport of choice to draw and colour in as they don’t normally get a chance to do that. We also gave out new pencils from the supplies to help them complete their work.

 

Revising transport

 

It started raining at the point of lunch time and it’s as if time stops here when it rains (because of how heavy it is) but most especially so at RMC because the roof is made of tin. We finished off by singing ‘Our God is A Great Big God,’ which was essentially a competition between the rain and us as to who could be the loudest! In the afternoon we got to watch the children practice their Christmas play, complete with very dramatic performances of Mary giving birth, and more dancing taught by Teacher Grace.

In the evening we had our first experience of a long power cut. I was cooking dinner at the time so I had to get out my head torch so I could see what I was doing. Eventually everyone’s devices ran out of charge so it ended up being fun because we were able to chat over hot chocolate. There was also much excitement because our project manager Alex had picked up some post from home for us- thank you for your parcel mum!

 

P2 with their new pencils

Making scratch crowns for the Christmas play

  

Wednesday- I was in P1 on Wednesday morning, teaching vertical multiplication with single digits. After this, I was excited to be able to read ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ to the children. They LOVED pressing the sound effects and I had great fun doing the actions with them. The afternoon was hilarious because we had to teach a group a ballet routine for their graduation performance. Considering I last did ballet when I was seven, this took quite a lot of thinking and creativity! I didn’t realise how hard it was going to be to get 15 children all doing demi- plies in time together.

We also got to give out cardigans that had been sent over from a primary school in England to all of the children to keep them warm in the mornings as it is cold weather for them here even though we are warm. They looked so smart in them!

Ruth and I with the jumpers

Nursery class in their new jumpers



Helping P3 try on the jumpers

Christmas 'cow costumes'

Ballet formation

Making up ballet moves

Thursday- I went with Innocent this time on community outreach in Nabulagala. We visited the home of the young man we met the first week who was struggling with his business. Last week he had told Innocent that was he was thinking of giving his life to Christ so we went to encourage him in this and pray with him. It was a real privilege to be able to share my faith in this way but also a challenge to find the right thing to say, so prayers for wisdom for that would be really appreciated.

Friday- I went to Blessed Word Church to run children’s club with Innocent and another one of Smile's volunteers. We taught the story of Joseph and got the children to answer questions about the story. It was lovely to get to know this group of children more.

 

Please pray for:

-Our continued health as we work on the projects.

 -For the condition of the road up the hill to the Smile house as it is very muddy due to the rain and can be hard for the boda boda motorbikes we travel on to get up there.

-For the children at Ruth Mother Care as they sit their exams this week before the end of term

 

Love from Uganda x