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.
She'd been waiting for an hour and didn't want to wake me as she'd figured I needed the rest from my Trip. I told her in future to knock when breakfast was ready and not wait for me. It consisted of a sweet yellow bread, margarine and tea. The tea here is almost identical to the UK except the cows milk is slightly sweeter if you have it - its generally black tea.
It was only her and I eating so I felt compelled to chat...'how long have you been here? Do you enjoy working here?' and other such conversation starters. I've quickly learned that Ugandans don't generally chat over meals.

I braced myself for a day of the unknown and made my way down to the compound. Along the mud track you couldn't help but notice how fresh the air was, how green fields and trees were and apart from the nearing sounds of children, how quiet it was.

I met Ezra at his office and he welcomed me again and showed me the vision for Potters Village. They hope to be able to take 40 children and address all of their needs, from basics like shelter, food and play to administration, social work, an on site doctors ward and house mothers. At present they have two thirds of the buildings up and 27 children. They house many of the children in overflow buildings such as the main office and soon to be doctors ward.
The number of children coming to Potters Village is staggering, and until there is space many are turned away, which in all probability is a death sentence for the child.

We took a tour of the compound and I met James a fellow Englishman and 3 Americans here through The Peace Corps (the equivalent of our VSO). James is building the adventure playground ready for the end of November and the Peace Corps group are working on economic development in the town of Kisoro itself, over a 2 year period. There are a number of other buildings waiting to be built, as well as staffing for administration and social work. The cost of fulfilling the remaining building work is 55k, which would facilitate primarily more residential space for children.

I spent the day getting accustomed to my surroundings and went into town to get supplies. There were 2 main markets, the old and new. We visited the old market first, which consisted of groups of people sitting in a field with potatoes, plantains and rock salt on the ground next to them, no real order to where the path ended and the market stall began. There were a number of 10-12 year old boys hovering uncomfortably close, so I kept an eye on my wallet as I'd been preciously warned of pickpockets. We headed for the new market, but not before I purchased a large pineapple for 30p.

The new market was close to what you'd see in the UK, with stalls selling fruits, veg, rice, electricals and football shirts. The difference being, the multicoloured poorly made Liverpool and Manchester United shirts were premium goods here, at least 2 days wages. There were plugs too with 'Made in Britain' clearly written and clearly falsifying that fact. In truth all the electricals are from China and only the items the west reject.

One of the most disturbing things for me is the marketing of mobile phones. The airtime is expensive and the advertising for it prolific. I think mobiles are great and considering they jumped over landlines it must be quite magical, it's just the cost and priority airtime takes over food and family welfare. One of the biggest billboards in Kisoro advertised by Orange states 'Happiness for free calls all day for 1000 shillings', that's your whole days wages.
We were late for lunch so drove back to the compound through the town center. On the way we passed a promotion complete with stage, dancing and flags for MTN, another mobile network.

In the afternoon I went back to town with Malcolm so he could pay for his electricity. Three different companies handle this process, the supplier gives you the service, you pay another company and the third is responsible for cutting you off. The communication isn't great so sometimes you'll pay, and the cut off company won't be aware. Strangely, even though it's not your fault, you pay the reconnection fee.
On the way back we saw a prison gang working the fields in bright yellow...some in ankle cuffs, quite a sight in the midday sun.

I would be starting work tomorrow so the rest of the day was quiet. I met up with the Peace Corps group and shared a meal followed by the pineapple I purchased, then hit the sack ready for prayer calls and Polly-Anna.