This week the whole of the Uganda team joined our colleagues from Rwanda and South Sudan for three days of security training at a hotel in Entebbe. We covered a lot of useful information in the three days looking at the equipment and planning needed for a trip up country, communications and risk assessment as well as more extreme situations such as car jacking, abduction and coming under fire. We also had a full day of first aid training.
The three days culminated in an afternoon doing exercises ranging from assessing and dealing with casualties following an 'explosion' in the office to driving around in 4 wheel drive vehicles dealing with road blocks and kidnap attempts to all diving for cover when one of the trainers threw a half full water bottle and shouted 'grenade'!
All together a great opportunity to get to know my colleagues better, training on a completely new subject and lots of fun and laughter.
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Ssezibwa Falls
Yesterday we felt the need to escape from Kampala for a few hours and headed out with another volunteer to the Ssezibwa Falls. This waterfall is 30 km from Kampala on the way to Jinja but with the traffic getting out of Kampala it took us over an hour to get there. Jinja is the second largest town in Uganda and is a major tourist attraction as it is at the source of the Nile. The Jinja road is the main route between Kampala and Nairobi, especially now there are no passenger trains running through Uganda, so it is understandable that it is the busiest road in Uganda.
It was hard to believe the beautiful Ssezibwa Falls were only 30 km from the hustle and bustle of Kampala and only a few minutes from such a busy main routeway. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so first stop was the cafe set in a classic Ugandan banda - an open sided area with a thatched roof. We were given an extensive menu and were just thinking about what we would like to eat when our companion had the presence of mind to ask if anything on the menu was not available. This is so common in Uganda that when I go out with my Ugandan work colleagues they don't even look at the menu just ask what there is. And sure enough it turned out that they only had pork chops and chips or pork stir fry and chips! We had pork chops and they were lovely, coated in a lovely spice mixture with crispy chips.
Suitably refreshed we headed up the hill and around to the top of the waterfall. After clambering over a typical Ugandan rickety bridge we went on a short circular walk and ended up back at the foot of the waterfall. After taking a few photos we headed back to Kampala and an iced coffee in a local cafe.
Finally we finished the day doing our weekly shop in Shoprite and headed home just as it was getting dark. As we went past the VSO office we bought a fresh pineapple from the man with a wooden wheelbarrow full of beautiful fresh seasonal fruit. He is usually there all day every day. Supper was fresh pineapple sat on the balcony watching the sunset.
It was hard to believe the beautiful Ssezibwa Falls were only 30 km from the hustle and bustle of Kampala and only a few minutes from such a busy main routeway. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so first stop was the cafe set in a classic Ugandan banda - an open sided area with a thatched roof. We were given an extensive menu and were just thinking about what we would like to eat when our companion had the presence of mind to ask if anything on the menu was not available. This is so common in Uganda that when I go out with my Ugandan work colleagues they don't even look at the menu just ask what there is. And sure enough it turned out that they only had pork chops and chips or pork stir fry and chips! We had pork chops and they were lovely, coated in a lovely spice mixture with crispy chips.
Suitably refreshed we headed up the hill and around to the top of the waterfall. After clambering over a typical Ugandan rickety bridge we went on a short circular walk and ended up back at the foot of the waterfall. After taking a few photos we headed back to Kampala and an iced coffee in a local cafe.
Finally we finished the day doing our weekly shop in Shoprite and headed home just as it was getting dark. As we went past the VSO office we bought a fresh pineapple from the man with a wooden wheelbarrow full of beautiful fresh seasonal fruit. He is usually there all day every day. Supper was fresh pineapple sat on the balcony watching the sunset.
Sunday, 12 January 2014
New Year and a Short Holiday in Ibanda
We had an enjoyable start to 2014 with a few fellow volunteers joining us for drinks and supper on New Year's Eve and watching the New Year celebrations from our balcony. We could see several fireworks, although the main fireworks in central Kampala were behind Tank Hill. What really surprised us was the noise, with car horns beeping and people shouting to welcome the New Year. Then a quiet New Years day joining friends for a late lunch in Kisementi (a smart area of Kampala where several Embassies and large hotels are based).
With several days holiday left before Trocaire reopened we accepted an invitation to stay for a few days with one of our fellow volunteers at her home in Ibanda in the west of Uganda. Ibanda is beautiful, a little higher than Kampala so cooler and with hills all around. We went for a walk one afternoon through the banana groves and up the hill behind her house.
It was so lovely and peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Kampala. About 10 minutes drive from her house and you're into the little town of Ibanda. We loved the market, tucked away behind the main street with lots of stalls selling fruit and veg, meat and other necessities in open sided market halls with counters displaying all of the produce.
We liked the statue of a cow put up at the crossroads, next to the filling station!
As you drive from Ibanda to Mbarara, the nearest large town, the herds of horned cattle wandering onto the road can be a real hazard.
So this week it's been back to work and starting to put together a workplan for my placement, together with collecting and consolidating the information from the partner organisations on their expenditure in the last quarter.
With several days holiday left before Trocaire reopened we accepted an invitation to stay for a few days with one of our fellow volunteers at her home in Ibanda in the west of Uganda. Ibanda is beautiful, a little higher than Kampala so cooler and with hills all around. We went for a walk one afternoon through the banana groves and up the hill behind her house.
It was so lovely and peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Kampala. About 10 minutes drive from her house and you're into the little town of Ibanda. We loved the market, tucked away behind the main street with lots of stalls selling fruit and veg, meat and other necessities in open sided market halls with counters displaying all of the produce.
We liked the statue of a cow put up at the crossroads, next to the filling station!
As you drive from Ibanda to Mbarara, the nearest large town, the herds of horned cattle wandering onto the road can be a real hazard.
So this week it's been back to work and starting to put together a workplan for my placement, together with collecting and consolidating the information from the partner organisations on their expenditure in the last quarter.
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