Good morning Africa

Good morning Africa
Originally uploaded by paulwroe

Took this photo just before I left - shows the early morning fog over Potter's Village, reminds me of the film "The Village"

Home Sweet Home

(Sunday 5th December)
Left Kisoro at 7am (4am UK), then drove to Kigali, left Kigali International at 6pm (3pm UK), arrived in Nairobi at 9.30pm (6.30pm UK), left Nairobi at 12am (9pm UK).

Arrived back in the UK Sunday morning at 6am. Sat on Freezing bus from Heathrow to Brighton and finally got into bed around 10.45am...I'd been up for 30 hours! Slept like a log and after feeling rested returned to work Monday morning. It's strange being back in the UK after such an intense 3 weeks. Part of me feels sad longs to get back on the plane and another part is glad to be home for Christmas. I've started uploading my photos on flicker and some videos too, check out www.paulwroe.com for links and easy access. I hope to keep this blog updated (though less frequently) with any interesting news, maybe a little commitment to do just that could be my 2011 resolution :)

Last day

A lady organising her oranges for sale

Today (Friday 3rd December) is my last day in Uganda and I woke with more mixed feelings.

I felt excited at the prospect of going home and seeing friends and also a white Christmas, but felt sad at the thought of saying goodbye to my new friends and the community centred lifestyle I was living.

The first night I arrived I tried to wish away the whole 3 weeks looking out into the rain, flooding and darkness, but since have seen those weeks fly by filled with great memories and a growing urge to return.

Thursday Market

Fresh tomatoes

Wednesday and Thursday (1st and 2nd December) I collected items to be posted back in England for Christmas, I had lots of space in my bags, so was happy to oblige.

Thursday was my last Market day here so I took the opportunity to go with Rose (a Ugandan girl who buys for Potter's Village) and use her as my model to get some shots. In Uganda and some other African countries it's considered rude to photograph people and some even believe you are taking part of their soul when you photograph them, which could antagonize a crowd easily. I had 2 men shout 'Mzungu no' very loudly and then I pointed at Rose who was in my shot and they said 'Ok'.

Lazy day

Tuesday (30th November) started with the staff meeting and as it was my last I had to give an impromptu goodbye speech. After the Rifumburu translation and handshakes with staff, it started to dawn on me that I'd be going home in 4 days.

It was mixed emotions for such a short period of time, on one hand I was looking forward to on-demand fresh water and fast Internet and on the other dreading the fast pace of life I was likely to fall back into. I think after 3 weeks I was just getting settled, not fearing the slowdown of time and not racking my brain on what I'd spend my evening doing.

Monday morning (29th November) we made our way to Potter's Village ready for our hike. We couldn't do the volcano in the end as it was $50 a head to get there, a quarter of the Peace Corps monthly allowance. We instead opted for Lake Mutanda, a shorter 4 hour hike.

We started out following a path but before long decided to take it cross country, cutting through fields of sugar cane, heards of cows and goats and through small tucked away villages. At some points I felt I was Indiana Jones searching for a lost temple as the foilage was your typical jungle and the terrain dense and wet.

Final Sunday

The last few days post are below (Thursday onwards) no pictures for Sunday, lots of short videos though, but can't upload them as would take an age...

This morning (Sunday 28th November) I made my way to Sunday school to teach Christmas carols. They were doing a play on the birth of Jesus and needed to learn 3 carols, Judith thought a guitar would help aid the process. I was a little nervous as I approached the 50 strong group of children but within no time at all we were into the swing of things. We played 'Away in a Manger', 'Joy to the World' and 'Go tell it on the Mountain' on some adlib chords and beats.

Judith has lived in Africa all her life as her father had moved out to Uganda in 1947 to work on supplying many of the towns with electricity.

Peace Corps Thanks Giving

Saturday was the newly appointed Thanks Giving day for this particular group who'd travelled to be together. James, Poppy and I were all honoury members of the group consisting of 3 Brits, 1 Dutch girl and 15 Americans, my second Thanks Giving meal ever, and all in 1 week.

With the exception of 5 chickens, the food was cooked on gas in one of the homes. The meat was cooked on a Sigiri outside in a big pot after it had been marinated. There were 6 chickens in all but during the night a local cat had pulled one of the chickens out of the sink and through the house (over people sleeping in their sleeping bags) and finally munched away at it in the closet till morning.

Preparation took all day and we finally ate our meal together around 5pm. We'd managed to get the chicken pan so hot that we'd burned a hole right through. We chatted, exchanged stories and played games late into the evening.

The grasshoppers arrive...

Grasshoppers swarming

Friday (26th November) I again, in disbelief awoke to noise, this time at 4am and 2 chaps praying loudly in the next room. I squeezed the earplugs further into my head until it became a dull drone.

It was a relaxing day after a busy and as evening drew in, we made our way to meet the new Kisoro recruits.

They were congregated at the bus station with an equally big group of Ugandans stuck in some sort of stand off.

Thanks Giving

Preparations for Thanks Giving in the kitchen

Today (Thursday 25th November) I woke to the sound of music, clinking cups and celebration. It was 7.30am. Just down the hall from where I was sleeping was a reception room, which had been temporarily turned into a conference center. It was like my sleeping bag was in the middle of the room and everyone was dancing around it...even Polly-Anna was drowned out.

Below are posts for the weekend, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - sorry for delay, internet issues again!

Click photo to enlarge

Last week I mentioned World Aids Day, here is a photo I took of the side of a school, its interesting to see the ways they inform children of the risks.

Mzungu, Mzungu

4km from the Congo border

Wednesday morning (24th November) I made my way over to where Patric was staying in Kisoro in preparation for our hike. We were going to walk past Travellers Rest, then on past the new market and into the surrounding countryside and villages.

We started at 11am and within half an hour the hustle and bustle of Kisoro was long gone. The red dirt track we were on was shadowed by Mount Muhabura directly ahead with its telling clouds circling the top, these clouds usually signified afternoon rain. To the left of us was the Rwandan border.

Travellers Rest

On Tuesday (23rd November) we had the staff meeting as usual, lots of singing intermingled with notices. We did a short presentation on Thanks Giving for the workers explaining the history, such as the crossing of the May Flower and also the modern day celebration. I wore a self made pilgrims hat and accompanied Kristin with a slideshow of pictures on my laptop.

After the meeting I met a chap called Patric who was visiting from England, he was actually born in Kampala and grew up in Entebbe, so is Ugandan by origin. He has been in England for a year working and is back in Uganda for 3 months, then returning to Devon for a further year.

Second week

The walk into town

I woke this morning (Monday 22nd November) to a chap bellowing down his mobile phone and a girl singing loudly in the next room, it was 5am. It looks like there are more guests staying and they're Ugandan, which means early risers. I plugged my ears until 7am.
I made my way to town and changed up some money then purchased the necessities, a litre of water and an emulsified snickers.

Wet weekend

I have been writing new posts but the the Internet has either been down or I've not been able to get to a computer! This is the weekend, Monday and Tuesday will be up tomorrow.

The weekend (19th - 21st November) was a mixture of rain and music starting with an all day downpour on Friday. Work was halted from 10 till the end of the day, so it was spent relaxing, reading and chatting to local workers, there are 40 of them at Potter's Village. I particularly warmed to Augustine the chap who opens and closes the gate all day long as he has the patience and takes the time to teach me local greetings and common phrases. Sometimes he likes to diverge into animals and masonry designs pointing at bricks and goats alike telling me the Rifumbira equivilent...I ask politely if we can stick to the greetings.

Insects

A Nairobi fly on the climbing frame

Yesterday and today (17th and 18th November) pretty much merged into one regarding work. I continued on the adventure playground tying knots, securing walkways and shifting sand from great heights and then started building an artificial beach, which will look great against the wooden play boat.

James was giving me the heads up on insects, particularly the Nairobi fly and giant grasshoppers, which are common for this time of year.

Starting work

We have quite a few power cuts here and they last for several hours, so I didn't get a chance to put up my first days post. You can see it underneath this one.

The adventure playground in progress

Today (Tuesday 16th) I attended the staff meeting at 9am. We all clambered into a small room with benches and mats and one of the house mothers started singing, instantly everyone joined in. It was quite amazing hearing all the harmonies in tune, the different clapping rhythms and seeing the smiles on their faces. It was as if they were an African choir on tour. Music was a big part of their lives growing up here and the babies were surrounded by it.

First Day

The first morning was an early one. The call to prayer plays at 4, 6 and 7am on a loud speaker from the mosque in Kisoro, a sort of singing chant alarm clock.
At 7am I woke again to the sound of a donkey being slaughtered... except it wasn't being slaughtered it was being moved to a different grazing spot - you'd have thought otherwise with the noise it was making. She's called Polly-Anna and is up for sale.

I finally got up at 8.30am and made my way to the kitchen area where Alen, a Ugandan girl had breakfast laid out.

The long journey to Kisoro

We finally took off 50 minutes after scheduled departure time and started our journey towards Africa with Kenya Airways.

Tara and I were travelling together as far as Nairobi and then parting. I would travel to Kigali and Tara would continue to Bujumbura.

The food arrived shortly after our delayed take off as the stewardesses rushed to get lights out and induce that shortened night and day cycle.

Space Invader

I spoke too soon looks like we're delayed it's 30mins so far still no word on actual departure time...French air traffic control strikes to blame we're told!

To make things worse I have a space invader in front of me...

Location:Swindon Rd,,United Kingdom

A quiet Heathrow

We headed off punctually at 1.30pm from Poole Valley coach station and 2 hours later we were at Heathrow Terminal 4. No traffic, no delays.

We were checked in promptly, no queues and I got to take my guitar as additional hand luggage at no extra cost :) Straight through security and then a nice leisurely 2 hour meander through the Terminal 4's airside experience...Tie Rack, Costa, WHSmiths...the usual pre-flight haunts.

All in all a first for me in no hassle travelling...

We're just about to board now so next update will be from Nairobi.

Location:Swindon Rd,,United Kingdom

T-Minus One Day

Today is my last day of hot showers, junk food and a reasonably easy way of life.

Tomorrow evening I'm flying to Nairobi, then on to Kigali in Rwanda and then a truck journey north across the border into Uganda, finally resting at a small village called Kisoro. I'm hoping to be there Sunday lunchtime.

I work in software design, so most of the time I sit at a desk solving problems, staring intensely into algorithms and drinking coffee. This experience will, I hope give me a break from that 'norm' and help me lose a couple of pounds around the middle too (hopefully not from sickness...)

The mandatory first post

Everyone writes this post, so I won't be the exception - welcome to my blog!

I will be uploading some old posts from a trip to India, which I'd like to keep for old times sake in a safe place and also share with you. I'm hoping I can upload them in date order but I have a feeling that won't work out, so they may appear as recently added.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this blog, please keep coming back and feel free to comment.