Thursday 23rd at Brussels airport 9.45 on board so no internet: Someone has just given me £40! I was waiting at gate for flight to Manchester and a man started making conversation. Where have you come from? What were you doing in Uganda? How did you get involved? Etc. Of course I was very happy to explain!! So that’s the first donation to go towards mosquito nets for 2021!!! X
Later: I’m home and enjoying toast! Thanks everyone for your support and interest this year. I had a wonderful time but was ready for home and family. Couldn’t take much more adventures at my age!!
Will be still sending posts for a little while so hope you’ll stay with me. Right, what do I fancy next? An apple and a cup of tea with milk!! X
Friday 24th: Well I’m home after another wonderful stay in Uganda. I had a good nights sleep and actually woke up in time to see the Ugandan sun rise and wondered why it was still dark!
I’m missing my Ugandan home but there are a few advantages living here in the UK especially for nighttime ablutions!
⁃ Being able to bathe under a warm shower instead of standing in a big round basin or at Innocents, a pink baby bath which I was given by a Uganda friend a few years ago! Then pouring water, which had been collected from the borehole by Alex or Nico my young deaf friend, into buckets and using a plastic jug to pour over myself. I have to be careful none of it trickles in my mouth as it is not drinking water! In addition to this, standing on one leg while I try and scrub the clay dust off my feet is quite a challenge too!!
⁃ Being able to flush the toilet instead of doing what I need to do in a biodegradable bag stretched then tying a knot in it to carry outside to drop into the latrine pit! I had the added problem this year of my biodegradable bags starting to degrade before I even used them!!!
⁃ Being able to clean my teeth with water straight out of the tap rather than carrying my cup of bottled water outside to brush them in a corner of the compound with the moon for light and the song of the critters in the trees accompanying me. My chosen spot is under a paw paw tree where the gecko scurry about during the day and I don’t think about what might be scurrying about at night!!
⁃ Being able to use freshly boiled water for my early morning cuppa as so often there’s a power cut in Nawanyago. I did buy myself a thermos flask this year, that I tried to remember to fill when there was power during the day but it’s not quite the same.
⁃ Not having to walk round with an old piece of towel attached to one of my feet because the tiniest splatter of water on the shiny concrete floor could easily send me flying with possible dire consequences, especially with medical facilities in Uganda being the way they are, or are not as the case may be!
⁃ Having a mirror to look into after not ‘seeing’ me for a month – no, can’t class that as an advantage!!
Actually other than the toilet business and the slippery floors there aren’t that many real advantages to living back here in the UK though having my hubby around is a wonderful advantage and quite an asset too, as he makes my cuppa for me!!
It might not look like much to you but this us pure luxury to the majority of people in Uganda! Please excuse the washing! Hanging your ‘smalls’ outside is not the done thing out there!
My ‘bath’!
Gerry's Uganda Projects 