Ever since I came to Uganda in 2002 I have always fancied having a go at peeling matoki, the hard savoury banana that is steamed in banana fronds, mashed and eaten nearly every day. It might ‘only be a banana ‘ but it has a reputation for being very difficult to peel and I’ve seen ladies in Kamuli market peeling it for people who don’t want the mucky hard job themselves! I now know first hand why matoki has that reputation because I helped Betty peel some this afternoon! They are so hard and sticky! My hand really aches afterwards but I wasn’t going to let on to Betty!

When we had finished peeling, young Paul appeared with the cooking oil and proceeded to pour it on my hands! I was to rub it on the sticky black stains but they wouldn’t come off! Then a scourer type cloth was given to me but it was still a while and a lot of scrubbing before my hands turned Mzungu colour again! I’ve seen people using the dry soil or sand to remove it sometimes and that would have been the next thing to try if the scourer hadn’t worked!! And the boys got hold of my phone and recorded the event! The photos and video are rather hit and miss but they loved doing it and it’s keeping them amused as they keep looking at them again and again! Here are some of them!!

Every day shoes go ‘missing’ here and the culprit has been caught on camera now!

Norman has a liking for knives too but no one seems to worry too much about it! He often picks up food as he goes past too!! I will miss that little man!

Another shoe going walk about!