As expected I had a very comfortable journey to Jinja with my ‘new’ friends Thaddaeus and David. They arrived on time to pick me up but were more than a little amazed at the amount of luggage I had.

I had warned them when they first offered but it was still a shock to them especially as they probably felt obliged to help the three of us, Faith, Lily and I, when they saw us struggling to carry them down from the apartment. They had come dressed very smartly!!

We called in at a hospital where Miriam the wife of one of my friends Godfrey works as she had got some of my belongings left from my last stay including my motorbike helmet which I will need when I get to Nakakabala.

It was lovely to see Miriam as I had not done so for two years but will be spending a few days with her and her family around Christmas time. What I hadn’t realised was that the lady she was standing with was Marjorie, the sister of Godfrey who was hoping to get a lift to Jinja! Nothing was mentioned, (well not so I could understand anyway) she just greeted me and the next thing I knew she was sat in the front of the car and Thaddaeus got in the back with me.

This is how things happen here and you just ‘go with the flow’. I suppose if I understood the language it would help! Actually having Marjorie in the car made it quite a lively journey as the four of us ‘put the world to rights’ especially talking about Uganda issues.

It seems that everyone I talk to is fully aware of the corruption in their country and not just at the top. They are all fed-up with it and believe they will have to ‘take up arms’ if they are to change Uganda! It is so sad to think that they are right, that this is the only way.

As we approached Jinja we called Alex who I am staying with to give us directions and I got a bit worried when we turned off onto a very deeply rutted track, thinking of the beautifully clean vehicle we were travelling in. Thaddaeus reassure me that it was used to far worse when they were out and about working on projects.

At one point the angle we were travelling at was scary! But we made it. Alex invited us into his home and as we entered I noticed to me horror that Alex had got my portable commode out as extra seating! I could see the others eyes settle briefly on the commode then take another seat.

They obviously knew what is was and Alex had a glint in his eyes too so I just swallowed my pride and plonked myself down on it! Immediately there was laughter from everyone and I felt quite happy to explain why I need a commode in Uganda – dodgy knees etc!

Before they left for the drive back to Kampala Thaddaeus and David expressed again how willing they are to stand by James as they are so impressed by the school and especially James himself.

Once James and I have had a bit of time together we are going to arrange a meeting between us all as they have some really practical and useful ideas to share with us.

Jinja continued later! x