When I arrived at school today the children were already sat on their benches waiting. Two of the boys started doing actions and saying ‘up down, up down’. They were telling me they wanted to play with the parachute again! We had work to do first though as I had received requests for desks to be named after loved ones who had passed away and also two children from Spain, wanted their names on a desk so the first job this morning was to paint the names on the desks.

The children were fascinated and as usual gathered round me watching my every move. I don’t know whether it was the constant attention or just the arthritis in my right wrist playing up but my writing got gradually worse. Apologies to those concerned! Also my hands were covered in the black paints and there was not paraffin available but the children knew what to do. They led me to a pile of builders sand and showed me how to rub the paint with the sand them rinse it off using the borehole water. It took a lot of scrubbing but it worked!

After breakfast we all met in Hambridge Hall to write replies to those in Cheshire who had drawn pictures or wrote letters to their friends at St James. James guided them from the blackboard and they sat quietly doing their best. They liked drawing and colouring pictures at the end of their letters best. I shall take a photo of them later.

It was strange being in Hambridge Hall, the name of the block of four classrooms that opens up into a hall, with so few children but they are all happy, enthusiastic and hard working and might not have received an education if it wasn’t for St James taking them on. All but one of them are vulnerable children in some way.

My banana lady must have got the message that I was visiting as she turned up on her bicycle carrying lots of tiny sweet bananas and another baby! When I stay at the school she is my regular supplier of these delicious fruits and I am happy to help her by eating them!!

My first visit to St James

I was worried about coming to St James today as I knew there were only a few children and wondered also how James would be too. There was no one to greet me and the place was so quiet. I got Innocent to come in with me. But as we got to the inner gate a little face appeared, broom in hand and a wide smile on her face ‘You are welcome Madam Gerry’. I began to feel a little more relaxed. The gate was opened and I could see other children doing their daily chores, sweeping, clearing fallen leaves, washing their dormitories, preparing breakfast. All was normal except for the very small numbers.

One of the children ran to get ‘the Master’ who came out of his room and gave me a warm though cautious welcome. My impression of James at the School Management Committee meeting was of a frail and broken man but in the environment of the school and with children around him he seemed to have recovered some of his sparkle and enthusiasm which was good to see. However, he has admitted he cannot cope any more with the many responsibilities of being head teacher, administrator, house father etc. So from the end of this school year which is next month he is retiring completely from these positions. He is still willing to be involved as an advisor and of course friend to all the children who hopefully will return in numbers in February 2017, the beginning of the new school year in Uganda. Of course this is also James’ home so he will be around for the rest of his days and will be happy with the company the school will offer him.

I’m feeling much more positive about the future of St James compared to how I felt before I came to Uganda a week ago. I hope that with the new management, which is going to contain members of the community, one or more of my friends to represent me and of course James’ family the school will return to the vibrant, caring and successful centre of ‘life’ education it once was.

Eight children, one head teacher, a big rat and its two babies!

After the children, ages ranging from five to thirteen, had completed their morning chores they sat on benches under the big mango tree in Gerry’s Square waiting with anticipation to see what I am going to ‘teach’ them. Much of the teaching in Uganda is traditional, formal, chalk and talk, rote learning, sat in lines of desks, just as I was taught many years ago. When I visit I try to offer them some light relief making simple necklaces by threading short pieces of drinking straws on to wool was to be their first activity but when I opened my trunk that contained all my teaching and craft materials I was hit by an awful stench that I recognised straight away…..rats! I called James over to take a look and a sniff and he agreed, “rat”!

James and the children carefully started pulling out the bags of art paper, collage materials, puppets, songs sheets etc. when a big rat jumped out narrowly missing my feet! OK I did scream in surprise! HORRIBLE!
 

 

The job of pulling everything out of the trunk continued, separating the chewed and urine covered items with the cleaner ones. If this had happened in the UK I would have burnt the lot but these materials are hard to come by in Uganda and anyway it is a regular occurrence these children have to cope with so they didn’t worry about it at all. Even when they uncovered two fur less, blind babies they didn’t get excited. Just pointed them out to me as they knew I would want a photo! One of the boys took them away and I doubt he would be keeping them as a pet!

So many of my materials and equipment had to be burnt. Some in plastic bags survived which included the straw pieces and wool. All the OK items were laid out in the sun to air as they all had a whiff of rat! The trunk was washed out thoroughly and left in the hot sun to dry and hopefully refresh!

By the time the children had completed this clean-up task it was coming up to eleven, their breakfast time, but they were keen to get on with the crafts so the porridge was left to cool while the got on and created, very enthusiastically. They were still wearing the necklaces round their necks the following day!

Fortunately the rat had not had a taste for my paints so after breakfast I showed the children how to use the block paints as only one, Sylvie, had ever experienced painting before. They quietly chatted away as they painted and would have done much more had I had the time but I wanted to finish with the story of ‘The elephant who had no trunk’ and another new experience, playing with the parachute that had been donated by Hollies Pre-School in Poynton. They were so, so excited but although they speak little English and I absolutely no Lasoga we had some good fun games. Demonstrating is always best way though I found getting under the parachute was a bit of a struggle with my knees, to their amusement! They squealed with delight as we played swapping sides and tossing tennis balls high into the air and trying to catch them again. Oh I do love working with Ugandan children, and feel totally relaxed with them.

More later!

 

Back to my time in Jinja – Meeting with the St James Schools Management Committee

While I was in Jinja I had my first meeting with the Schools Management Committee who have been gradually taking charge of the school since James fell sick at the beginning of the year. I was really pleased to see James there though what a shock I had, he looks a very frail and unhappy man. The meeting lasted almost five hours which allowed us to talk round and round all the difficulties St James has gone through during the last twelve months and beyond. Yes, there have been problems building up over the last two years or more that neither I nor James’ family were aware of as James kept them all to himself.

Hopefully with all the new strategies we are going to put in place the school will gradually return to the wonderful place it once was. More news to come!

My few days in Jinja, tourist capital of the world, has been a happy one, staying at the home of American friend Hannah, her two year old foster twins Johnny and Gracie and ‘Uncle’ Alex, one of the young men my family and friends have had the pleasure of helping with his education.

 

Now I’ve moved inland to live at the home of Innocent, another young man who has benefited from my family and friends financial assistance through his university course where he was awarded his degree in Business Studies three years ago. Innocent lives in what I call the ‘real’ Uganda where a white face is rarely seen but is welcomed openly, though the tiny tots find my white skin quite frightening to begin with! Innocents’ home is just outside the trading centre of Nawanyago where he runs a small bar called Mirembe (Peace) and keeps a cold Nile Beer always available for Mum G, me!

I’m writing this sat under my mosquito net at 5.30 am after a wonderful nights sleep! Dawn is just beginning to break and looks beautiful out of my metal-barred but un-curtained window! I can here the first of the cockerels singing out their alarm calls and the critters in the trees that have been serenading me all night have now gone quite, making way for the dawn birds’ chorus. 

Alex dropped me off yesterday afternoon to be greeted not only by Innocent but also his mum Judith who has agreed to stay here to look after me and to stop any rumours starting – ‘Mzungu woman moves in with local barman’! Judith is in her early forties, the same age as my two daughters, so I could be her mum which would make me Innocents’ grandparent – Oh no, I do feel old sometimes!!!

The family that lives next door to Innocent had been told of my arrival and came out of their home to greet me from a distance but within a few minutes the children had decided I was not a threat and toddled over for a closer look. The little girl, stark naked, and her big brother of maybe four or five playing with an old motorbike tyre and stick, probably his only toy. Just like Nakakabala this is a relatively poor area where families live a simple life but with the added bonus of a trading centre where they have the opportunity to sell any surplus crops or items they have made. I’m hoping to go and buy some mats and shelves, both locally made, for my room as there is nothing on the dusty concrete floor and no furniture except from plastic chairs I brought in Jinja. It still had that empty hollow sound to it.

Of course I was hoping to live at St James as I usually do but with James being so unreliable and unpredictable that wasn’t possible this time. I will be visiting the school often though as it is only 20 minutes motorbike ride away. In fact I’m going there tomorrow. One advantage to living at Innocents home is that my bedroom has an on-suite ‘facility’, a small room in the corner where I can bathe. Of course there is no shower but I do have a willing ‘son’ who goes off to the nearest borehole to collect the water and returns with it loaded on his bike!!

Thank goodness I don’t have to collect it myself! Also being within the home I’ve not had visits from the gecko as I used to at St James where my ‘bathroom’ was open to all creatures great and small, goats, chickens, gecko, whatever fancied a chat with me as I was bathing! The big brightly coloured gecko are around though, everywhere you look when the sun is shining. I love to watch them!

 

Judith made a delicious meal for us last night – matoki (savoury banana), ‘Irish’ potatoes and g-nut source. Though a big storm was brewing with lightning lighting up the sky, my personal barman hopped on his motorbike and came back with an ice cold beer in the pocket of the highviz jacket I gave him. I think I’m going to be very happy living here!

8 am

The sun is high, I’ve breakfasted on delicious fresh pineapple grown locally and tiny sweet bananas from a plantation I can see from where I am sitting! I’ve done my washing and the neighbours allowed me to hang it on their wire to dry. They were very much amused that I was doing my own washing and I had to persuade Judith that I was capable of doing any basic chore this morning.

I got Innocent to tell her that she is my friend and not my maid all the time! However Judith seems happy to keep busy and doesn’t seem to want to go away from the home.

The word had got round! A row of children has formed the far side of the neighbours’ compound, here to see me, a Mzungu in their mists! It’s just coming up to 11 am so they should all be at school so they have either just skivved school for the day or more likely they don’t go to school at all. The exact reason we started St James in 2008, to cater for these children.

The chickens are ferreting around in front of me and can hear the piglets calling Innocent for their breakfast. He’s been looking after me too well and have temporally forgotten them!

I think I’m going to enjoy living here!

(Gerry apologises for the lack of news from her at the moment – where she is staying has poor internet connection, so she hasn’t been able to send me many updates to the blog. Norman)

Hi friends, I had a rather bumpy journey here yesterday but not as bad as I thought it was going to be when the pilot asked us all to stay seated with our seat belts fastened low and tight! All’s well though. I was met at the airport by my Ugandan ‘son’ Alex, his friend Hannah and her foster children two year old twins John and Gracie – they are gorgeous!!!!

We spent the night at Banana Village, a lovely guest house in  Entebbe as it’s not good to travel here at night especially if you are a Mzungu!! Then it took us give hours to do a journey that should take half that time. The traffic was horrendous! Even worse than Poynton traffic, haha! Actually a great deal worse!!!

Travelling from Entebbe airport and through Kampala you see the two extremes of life in Uganda. Modern high rise office blocks, tall elaborate mosques and posh housing and not far away shanty towns where you can witness children who should be at school rummaging in the piles of rubbish and in the gutters for anything worth a few shillings. I think plastic bottles make up a bit proportion of their finds! I wish I could help them all but I don’t think I could work in areas like the shanty towns as although the people of Nakabala village are just as poor the area is so much nicer! There’s not a chance to grow your own food or even breath fresh air in the poor areas in town.

It’s always an interesting journey and at the speed we crawl along plenty to witness. Cows grazing on one side of the road as men in smart suits are working on offices. Modern expensive cars vie for each inch of road beside the numerous motorbikes cutting in and out with barely a hairs breadth between them. It’s not unusual for the motorbikes to touch the cars as they squeeze passed!

Pedestrians risk life and limb trying to cross the road dodging between the cars and motorbikes which dodging to avoid each other, are almost bouncing off the car bonnets! There are marked zebra crossings but I don’t think anyone knows what they’re for! The roundabouts are the craziest though, everyone for themselves! I find myself breathing in as if it will help Alex’s car get through easier! I’m not kidding, I don’t know how there are not a lot more accidents! I go very quiet during these periods not to distract Alex but he’s as cool as cucumber! Needless to say Alex locks the car doors as snatching from cars is a regular occurrence in places like these!

The whole journey from the airport to the other side of Kampala is buzzing with small family business selling cheap plastic items from China, toys, kitchen utensils etc etc. All are brightly coloured but none last longer than a few weeks and never come with a guarentee of any sort! Numerous manikins display dresses with slim waists and out of proportion hips, hips are sexy in Uganda!!

I saw one man today carrying a pile of plastic washing bowls on his head, a water barrel hung from one arm and a big waste bin from the other, both tied on with ‘string’ made from torn plastic bags! One guy on the back of a boda was carrying a full size ladder which stretched up high! His t-shirt said ‘Electrician’! I was hoping there wouldn’t be any low hanging cables!!!

As we make slow progress tradesmen carrying tall structures with shirts and ties make their way to car windows. Others with numerous household objects on their heads trying to earn an honest living come right up to the car windows. A bit scary the first time it happens to you but now I just smile and shake my head, keeping the windows closed of course!

Even children as young as 7 or 8 beg you to buy one of their few pairs of flip flops probably picked from the waste tips and slightly older children sell packs of chewing gum and bottles of soda from their small supply. They all make their way up the road between the cars and even when there is a spurt of movement and relative speed they run towards the oncoming traffic to try to sell! Frightening! They should be at school but, young as they are, are probably head of their families who depend on them to earn a few shillings for food. Going to school is just not an option for them! It so annoys me, actually upsets me to know that not far away after members of the corrupt government who live in sheer luxury! I wish I had the courage to go and knock on their doors (that of course don’t belong to them!) and scream at them but I would be thrown in prison without a second thought, and probably not allowed back into the country again!!

Ladies sit right on the verge of these busy roads selling the few fruits and vegetables they have managed to grow. Often they have a child sat nearby hoping to be offered a coin. What a life!

The markets we pass are full of stalls packed with bananas, mango, sugar cane, and vegetables like matoki, cassava, sweet potatoes, cabbages. The sellers will have come from the villages surrounding the capital. You see men with back barrows of watermelon pulled high and others with pineapples hanging from their bikes!

In the very centre of town you get the big banks with notices outside such as ‘Reserved parking for real people’! Not sure if I qualify!!

Overcrowded Mututu taxi buses (I call them suicide buses!) surround us with signs on the back saying things like ‘Sit back and relax’ and ‘Real men love Jesus’. I know when I have to use these vehicles I just close my eyes and pray! As the Mututu stand in the jam near by many faces peer down at me. I smile and either get a return smile or a swift turning away!

A cheaper ride can be obtained by hopping on one of the open topped trucks but standing room only! I think you need this form of transport crowded so the passengers support each other!!

Rows and rows of Boda men, the local name for motorcycle taxi, sit in rows on their bikes waiting for a fare. There is now a rule that they have to wear a helmet but many wear them not fastened or just on their handlebars! One boda man wore a t-shirts with the sign ‘Safe Boda’ but he wore his helmet on the seat in front of him!

Along all the main roads as well as the roundabouts, women dressed in high viz jackets and safety helmets but with no shoes, were brushing the kerbs right beside the sometimes fast moving traffic! Horrendous!

When we pass the Mandala Stadium where the Cranes, the Ugandan National team play, I knew we had escaped the worst of the jams. Its always a relief to leave the city and head towards Jinja where the roads were surrounded by tea plantations and sugar cane fields. By now we were all tired and hungry so stopped at the road-side service station we call the BBQ. Now this is an experienced in itself!! Usually Alex reminds me to put my window up as we are approaching but forgot this time. All of a sudden young men and women dressed is a blue uniform pushed handfuls of roasted chicken legs or beef on long wooden sticks into my face! Also roasted banana, freezing bottles of soda and water all crammed through the window at the end of many arms! I sat back and very still and demanded that Alex place the order and do the bargaining! Five chicken, five banana and three Coca cola. Total cost 25 Ugandan Shillings, £6!! And they were yummy but I had baby wipes at the ready!!

One consistent thing about Uganda is that there is always a layer of brown dust over everything. Even the smartest car or poshest building does not escape the dust! I call it clean dust as it is not a sign of unhygienic practice’s, is just the way it is in Africa!

I’m now staying in Jinja for a few days where the breeze off the Nile and Lake Victoria is filling the air a little. Tomorrow I travel to St James to assess the situation then I have meetings with the School Management Committee on Monday evening.

I have Alex and his  friend Hannah for company along with two gorgeous twins who ate keeping me on my toes!

I feel as if I have been here for more than a week not just a day, as I feel so at home. Missing my hubby though, always do but we’re in touch every day.

Thanks for all your support for St James , especially during the difficult time this year.

Love
Gerry