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Money moves on quickly!
Money quickly moves on!
With the money from selling the chickens this morning Innocent was straight out to buy maize bran for the remaining chicks along with a mixture of ‘concentrates’, different additions depending on which birds were having it, for instance the laying birds need a different mix to others. I’m learning!!
When he returned he got down to much the different quantities straight away. Young Gerry was with him the whole time watching and copying his every move. Is she really only just 2? We’re late for choir but this takes priority as it all has to be mixed and stored safely before the predicted storm tonight.
I’ve taught the St Aloysius Youth Choir a song the Singzest Choir in Poynton is learning for this term’s concert, Humanity, written by the amazing Tim, music teacher from PHS. The members here love it and are sounding pretty good to me!
Innocent only formed this choir a week before I came to Uganda and they meet every Monday and Wednesday. I’ve enjoyed being a temporary member! 🎶
My ‘facilities’!
Occasionally I’m asked where I stay when I’m in Uganda followed by what are the facilities like? Well one word covers that answer, mostly basic, very basic!
My first night in Uganda I stay in Entebbe at a place called Banana Village which does have a flush toilet and running, slowly, water.
When I’m with my friends Godfrey, Miriam and Abi then it’s a modern comfortable house not far from Jinja.
Other than those two, the majority of my time in Uganda is spent at two homes with very basic facilities. Innocent has solar power for lights and electric power is laid in the house but I pay for it to be turned on during my stay though the power in the area often fails anyway especially now with the almost daily thunderstorms. Water has recently been piped to the house too but again it takes money to take advantage of it so I have it turned on during my stay though again this week there’s been a problem at the pumping station so the family are back to collecting from the borehole. As for toilets, there is a block that stands behind the house with two squatting latrines and a bathing cubicle but I’ve got luxury in my room, an en-suite!? 🤣
I used to manage to use the latrines but I think now if I did manage to squat down I’d probably fall over!! So I have my Gerry-designed loo! A nurse once gave me a folding commode frame which I brought out to Uganda when my knees first started playing up. I buy rolls of biodegradable bags that I stretch over the seat and that becomes my loo! After using a couple of times, depending on quantity 🤣, I tie a knot in the bag and drop it in the bucket underneath. The lid of the bucket acts as the lid of the loo. Then once a day or more, I carry it to the latrine. Dead easy, and I’m sitting comfortably! Mind you at both village homes I stay in I’ve had to explaine this strange procedure to the people I live with as I’m sure they did wonder what on earth was going on! Now I even get offers to help carry my bucket! 😆
When I was moving from Nawanyago to Kasozi for the weekend, Norman and Gerry enjoyed helping me pack as you can see! Norman was ‘driving’ my toilet and Gerry was trying to unscrew it! 🤣
When I want to bathe I have a bucket of water and a jug. I stand in a baby bath (yes seriously it was a gift from an Ugandan friend!), and pour cold water over myself. The first jug full I pour slowly as it is freezing because my body is so hot but then it becomes refreshing!
In Kasozi facilitates were even less! The only lights they have are the ones that shine over the ‘shade’, the power from solar. Otherwise no power and no water. As you might have read previously, I bathe outside under the stars when I’m there!
Must admit the two things I look forward to having when I get home is a slice of toast and a shower! A big hug from my lovely hubby is good too! 🤗
Not for the squeamish!!
11th March – Not for the squeamish! But it is life out here! Innocent sold 30 chickens today which of course is good. They all had to be hung, live to keep them fresh, from a boda (motorbike)! It didn’t take the men long to figure out the best way then the buyers were off!
I’ve milked a cow, just!
11th March continued.
I’ve just milked Marie, Innocents cow! Well, sort of! Innocent tried to put me off going in the paddock as the recent rains have made it very muddy and slippery for Marie and those that join her! Innocent hasn’t had the money to have a proper floor laid like the original one where her first calf stays. But there were a few islands of dryish mud so I went for it. However Marie wasn’t in agreement and head butted my first attempt! She’s a big heavy cow! Dear Judith was watching and was so anxious I’d get hurt. She should know by now that this mad English woman doesn’t give up that easily! I tried sweet talking Marie but that seemed to make her worse. So I kept quiet and gently bent once again to milk her. Would any milk come out? No of course it didn’t. Life’s never that easy! Innocent assured me there was a little milk left and in fact showed me, but agreed that Marie was coming to the end of her milk production as she was pregnant again. Good news!
As Marie had settled down and I didn’t feel in danger of being tossed out of the paddock I bent down again and succeeded to milk her! Yes, the evidence was in the bucket along with mud and animal feed, but it was there, probably a couple of tablespoonfuls!! Her second calf is due in September. Thanks Marie! 🤗
Gerry's Uganda Projects 