Chopper Chimps

It’s the ‘Year of the Gorilla’ in Uganda & Rwanda. There have been a host of events (a most notable one being 50 people in gorilla suits distributing conservation leaflets in the centre of town; this resulted in an outcry from some Kampala residents, who were convinced that the chimp population had escaped from the national parks). This weekend, saw the launch of the ‘Friend-a-Gorilla’ campaign (http://www.friendagorilla.org/) & a ‘Gorilla Gala’.

On Thursday night, my friend Dave (a pilot) & I hatched an idea for a little publicity stunt - to fly over the gala venue dressed as gorillas, waving from the chopper. All we needed were the gorilla suits… I really didn’t think we’d pull it off… but we did!

If seeing the mountain gorillas of Uganda wasn’t enough, actually being one in a helicopter was chopper'tastic!

Zanzibar

Beautiful Zanzibar - the land of coconuts & cloves, mazes & mosques, beaches & sunshine divine. My friend Al joined me for a fortnight of sun dhow'ners & a veritable marine safari, which included some scuba diving, dolphin spotting & a get together with a band of giant tortoises. Stone Town is a maze of alleyways & mosques, with rich Swahili & Arabic architecture; hawkers selling dates on street corners & children scampering though the streets on their way to school. The beaches are beautiful & often populated with locals, swishing their kangas, harvesting sea-weed, or preparing their dhows for the afternoon's fishing. I recommend!

Hairy Lemon

A weekend at the Hairy Lemon with the Dutch bunch - a little back-to-basics island on the Nile (in eastern Uganda). A perfect spot for relaxing & risking Biharzias... The place is named after a pub in Ireland, I believe.

This just says it all...

Mwana Mugimu - painting weekend

The VSO Kampala cluster spent an industrious & artistic weekend at the Mwana Mugimu (‘healthy child’) unit of Mulago Hospital, painting one of the wards. We hired a local artist to produce the designs & spent two days sanding walls, cleaning windows & brandishing paint-brushes. The result was, erm, bright & colourful… (!) & a much cheerier environment for some very young, sick & vulnerable children.

The next phase of the project is to design a new playground, but we are also still collecting toys & clothes for the unit – so if you would like any info on how to send some over, please do let me know.

Moonlighting

Having recently joined to Iguana 'team' (I will be working there once a week from October), I spent the day with them at the cosy offshore, Lagoon Resort, on Lake Victoria. Beautiful place for a relaxing Sunday, with kayaking, bbq, volleyball & a campfire. Yes please!

USDC field trip

A small series of pit stops 'up-country' for a work field trip. First a dash from Kampala to Soroti in the east, & then north to Lira & Arua, on the Congo border. The purpose of the trip was to visit some of the construction projects we are funding - mainly resource rooms and dormitories for blind & deaf children.

The trip was also a chance to see rural Uganda up close. We drove through several bustling towns – little hubs of traffic & trade; clusters of thatched mud-hut homesteads & farmland. Amongst all of this, life really seems to take place on the roadside. We passed groups of women with their jerry cans at the water pump, men on bicycles, laden with pineapples, sticks & chickens, about to topple over; children being bathed in plastic tubs or running naked through the bush, chasing old tyres & goats; people carrying all manner of things on their heads; women selling heavy bags of charcoal; palm, acacia, & papaya trees on a savannah landscape.

& I even saw an elephant!

Semliki

A recent public holiday allowed the crew to pack up the camping kits & spend a long weekend at the remote Semliki reserve, in the Western Rift Valley. Situated on the shores of Lake Albert (opposite the Congo) & at the base of the Rwenzori mountains, it's a beautiful mosaic of habitats - grassland, savanna, forest & wetlands, a haven for the ornithologist & a revealing snapshot into the daily rural lives of Ugandans.

We whiled away the time wandering through the local villages, haggling with fishermen for fresh tilapia, spotting Ugandan Cob & the occasional elephant, cooking over the campfire & waking up to honey coloured dawns.

Kampala Street Festival

Music /Art Festival, with drumming from the Kika Troupe, up & coming Ugandan artists & lots of beer.

Pedicure Prerogative

Amidst the buzzing of boda-bodas & the heavily laden hawkers, weaving between dawdling cows, goats & pot holes, there are small havens for the vain on the streets of Kampala. Hair-braiding, shoe-shining, manicures and pedicures are all on offer – just about everywhere in fact. On Saturday morning, Marlies, Elena & I decided to splash out with 1,000 shillings (about 30p) & give our toes some treatment. Everything started out well – our feet were cleaned with an old toothbrush & the polish of our choice was applied… that is, until the chap decided to get creative. Step forward, 30 sparkly & luminous toes; add some wind swept dust & you have quite the speckled effect. Just as well we had late night dancing on the agenda!

Nightlife

Kampala reportedly hosts some of East Africa's best nightlife & my local is no exception: the Dutch-owned, breezy Iguana bar, with its plump couches, cool & daring-do DJ & soul-beat atmosphere, it's chock-a-block on both Friday & Saturday nights. By peering over the balcony, you can spy boda boda drivers waiting for passengers, late-night snack sellers & the whole of Kisementi. Fortunately, K'la's current hot-spot is also a convenient 10min walk from my house!

Mt Elgon

Nine VSOs donned their crampons for a 4-day trek to the summit of Mt Elgon, in eastern Uganda. Everyone was on ‘peak’ form (get it?!) & made it to the top of the mountain’s Wagagai peak (4,321 metres), from which you can look out across to Kenya. From bamboo groves, rugged slopes, spectacular waterfalls & caves at the base, through to almost sci-fi landscapes of giant lobelia & heather, followed by crater lakes towards the top, the trek was stunning. Though my feet have yet to forgive me, it was definitely worth it! Next stop, Kilimanjaro…

USDC

In light of several comments referring to my VSO ‘holiday’, I thought it was about time to say a little about my work here. My placement is at the Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC), where I am working to build the fundraising capacity. The office is based in Kampala (& is shared with several resident goats).

USDC provides support & rehabilitation services to families and children with disabilities. Typical examples of our work are: constructing special needs resource rooms in schools; providing equipment for deaf and blind children; organising surgical camps and orthopaedic workshops; running sensitisation workshops in local communities & raising awareness of the issues surrounding disability in Uganda.

Fundraising here is quite a challenge & the Ugandan work culture has certainly opened my eyes up to a very, erm… ‘different’ approach! That said, I can’t write any more as it’s sunny outside, so I think I’ll go for a dip.

Mwana Mugimu

The VSOs in Kampala have gathered together, to work on a small project called ‘Mwana Mugimu’ (healthy child). Over the next few months, we’ll be working with some very small & sick children at a unit in Mulago Hospital. All of the children on this ward are severely malnourished; many have been abandoned or are orphans.

The activities we will be working on inlclude:
· putting our artistic skills to the test to brighten up the units
· improving the playground facilities
· introducing play therapy
· collecting toys & clothes

On Saturday, we delivered our first consignment of toys and clothes, which had been generously donated by friends & family in the UK & the Netherlands. It was a really fun morning & we hope to do it again - but we need more toys & clothes! Please let me know if you would like to help & I'll send further info...

Uptown Kampala - for the office of Mr Museveni, swanky hotels & boutiques, verdant surroundings & a rather large shopping centre.

Downtown Kampala - home of the taxi parks, compact bustle, hawkers & dust. The name Kampala derives from the Luganda expression Kosozi Kampala - Hill of Antelope - a reference to the domestic impala.

Pebble

It seems it is impossible for me to go anywhere, without acquiring a cat. Meet Pebble, otherwise known as 'Compound Cat'. I am now campaigning for a resident goat...