So, What is it Really Like?

I've now been here 10 months, yes really! Sometimes the time passes very quickly and other times it seems to go very slowly.

Day to Day Living
We've been very lucky and have been given a lovely flat in a pleasant area of Kampala. I've always wanted to have a view and here we've got the most amazing view out over Kampala. We enjoy sitting out in the evening watching the sunset, with a G&T of course!

We have a 2 ring calor gas stove for cooking and bought ourselves a fridge. All types of food are readily available in Kampala, but imported foods are very expensive. Eating out is cheap by UK standards but still makes a significant hole in the volunteer's living allowance I get from VSO. The allowance is equivalent to a reasonable local wage and the accommodation is provided on top. But it doesn't go very far and most volunteers supplement their income with savings or pensions etc. It certainly wouldn't be possible to run a car or go on holidays without extra funds.

Power cuts are a part of the experience, as is living without the appliances we are used to at home, such as a dishwasher, washing machine, microwave, oven etc. We have a small freezing compartment in the fridge but with the frequent power cuts we don't cook extra portions and freeze the left overs as we would at home.

Most people agree that it is easier to live without power than without water! We are lucky and have a large tank that is just for our apartment so when the water goes off we can survive several days especially if we are careful. It's amazing how much we rely on running water and it's only when it's taken away that you really appreciate it.

We know we are very lucky and many volunteers, especially those that live in remote rural areas, have a much more difficult experience with day to day living than we do. In some places water is more off than on, power is only available for 7 hours a day, there is very little privacy and no opportunities to go to a supermarket or meet up with other volunteers for a meal out.

Work
I'm in Uganda as an accountant to share my skills and experience, particularly with small, local organisations. Again I'm very lucky and have a very supportive placement where I feel I can make a real contribution. I'm very busy and often work at the weekend preparing for the following week. It can be very frustrating when you go into work with a deadline to finish a piece of work and the power goes off or the internet won't work!

I also get to travel all over Uganda working with local organisations in places like Gulu, Lira and Soroti. This gives me an opportunity to see different parts of the country, meet lots of people, understand different issues in the various areas and meet up with other volunteers who are based away from Kampala.

I enjoy the work and it's great when someone finally understands how to do a bank reconciliation, or I go out to meet people in a village who have been given a water pump and they can grow vegetables even during the dry season. It's amazing to see the outcomes that can be achieved for relatively little input from funders. Although the work I do is not directly benefiting the villages I know that the funding would cease to be available if the funders couldn't see where their money was going and how it was being spent.

And where in the UK do you have a commute to work where there is a better than 50% chance of seeing an elephant!

Weather
Well what can I say! With the lovely summer in the UK before we came out to Uganda I haven't worn winter clothes for about 15 months! It's the 'cold' season here at the moment but that just means it's a very pleasant temperature. I never tire of the outdoor lifestyle where you can eat outside for breakfast, lunch and dinner all year around.

Family and Friends
I think the hardest part is being over 4000 miles away from our family and friends in the UK. It is especially hard when there are special events such as the weekend the Tour de France came to Yorkshire, our son being the best man at a friend's wedding and birthdays. Wouldn't it be lovely to have a transporter to just go home for the weekend!

But we all go through the same emotions and the VSO volunteers become your new family. You help each other through the hard times and celebrate the good times together. It feels very empty in Kampala at the moment as so many people have gone home recently, but we now have friends all over the UK and the world and will meet up again.

High Days and Holidays
The hidden bonus of a VSO placement! There are lots of interesting day trips such as the wildlife park or botanical gardens at Entebbe, the equator, the source of the Nile at Jinja, tropical forest reserves and the Mabamba swamp where we went last Sunday. At least 2 of the National Parks are within reach for a long weekend and there are many more parks, waterfalls, mountains and lakes within the boundaries of Uganda for a longer break. There is no shortage of wildlife and we have already seen most of the big 8, elephants, buffalo, lions, giraffe, hippos and zebra plus rhino in the wildlife park as they are locally extinct in Uganda. We love the warthogs with their endearing habit of trotting away with tails in the air and the strange but also endearing shoebill.

Then there is the rest of Africa! Uganda borders Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya and there are flights from Entebbe to lots of interesting places. Now we both have our visas in order and the car registration documents sorted the whole of Africa is there to be explored.

So overall, despite occasional wobbles and busy patches when I can't seem to escape from work, I'm glad we decided to do something different and worthwhile and I'm sure when we get back to the normal routine of UK life we will look back very fondly on our time in Uganda.