Blog off..

And so the time will always come
When you have to say goodbye,
And the longer it takes, the more people you know
The harder it is not to cry.

The children sang songs to wish us well
The ladies brought gifts they had made,
There wasn't a dry eye left to be seen
I think they were all glad we'd stayed!

Gerard, our cook, worked incredibly hard to provide us with 3 delicious meals a day, all prepared over an open fire. He was very shy at first and would just nod his head and say, "Mmm, yes, Ssanku madam, sir," to anything, avoiding eye contact and any further conversation. But poram pora (slowly slowly) he started to call us by our names, and once he had taught me to make chapattis we became firm friends.
Once, on our way into town I asked him if there was anything he needed. He cast his eyes down and thought hard. Then he said quietly, "a rain jacket madam. But I have no money."
Well, at 72 he ought to have his own jacket. It cost less than a fiver, and now you rarely see him without it!

The dedicated team of teachers, who work for no pay unless donations have been given, have now moved into the teachers accommodation. The 4th teacher, Charity, was absent due to an eye infection.
We struck up a close relationship with Orishaba, who was confident, funny and interested in everything.
Having never painted before, all the teachers tried their hand at painting the school, and we left the paint, brushes and instruction on mixing colours with Orishaba, a talented artist-to-be!
They are, from left to right; Patience, Irena and Orishaba.

A huge thank you goes to Edison, who works tirelessly to make everything possible. He is rarely without a smile or a large helping of enthusiasm, and is striving to make a better future for the community, especially the children. He aims to attract enough donations to be able to afford to send them to secondary school.

And of course - all the children - 152 pictured here! They have all entertained us, accompanied us, taught us words in their language and been eager to learn from us. They never seem to tire of smiling and greeting us, no matter what life throws at them. We hope we can help provide them all with a better future. They deserve it!

It doesn't stop here for us, we will keep on trying to raise money for the community project and promote it as a place for people to come and visit and make their own contributions.
So, if anyone out there fancies a trip, don't hesitate to get in touch - they will love to have you, and you will LOVE IT!

But for now, this is Pedal On Dreckly.............. Pedalling off.......!

Working towards sustainably

If anyone would like to come
And stay beneath Ugandan sun,
And eat like kings, and have some fun
The accommodation's almost done!

Edison, who has been the director of the village for 14 years now, embarked upon a long term project for the community about 6 years ago. His vision was to build 3 huts to accommodate tourists, a kitchen hut and a large central room/dining room with accommodation underneath for the teachers.

When we arrived the only part of this project to have been completed was the hut for us to stay in, and that had been finished just a few days before we got here! Things had been on hold for a long time due to lack of funds. We have managed to help both physically and financially so that the kitchen (pictured above) can be built, enough sand and cement has been carried up and down the hills to finish the other two tourist huts, and most importantly the main room has now been finished with the teachers accommodation completed, including the purchase of windows, doors and beds.

The teachers have now moved in, which makes a great difference to their day. Orishaba, who has been the head teacher for 5 years now, had to walk 3 hours to and from school everyday. She is 4 months pregnant, suffered with malaria last month and only gets paid when donations have been made. Two of the other teachers, Charity and Irena, live even further away so they are all delighted to have finally moved in!

I walked a third of the path with Orishaba one afternoon, but to call it a path is a generous term. It was precarious, steep, and sometimes not there at all!

Because the community has to rely mainly on donations as its only means of income, by creating an environment for visitors to come and stay and/or volunteer, Edison hopes to ensure a more reliable income for the community. He does not want to charge for accommodation but to keep it on a donation-only basis, giving tourists of any budget the chance to come and stay and be part of the community.


Steve has been doing his fair share of painting aswell, making signs to be put up on the road to help promote the project.

So, if you fancy a stay in a beautiful area where you can help make a difference, get in touch. There's plenty to do and see!

A fresh lick of paint...

I thought I'd paint the school
So that's exactly what I did,
Cause I'd like it to be nice
If I was a school kid.

Then I painted numbers,
Then the alphabet,
But little did I realise
I wasn't finished yet.

 "A flower. With the labels!"
The excited teacher calls,
(Which isn't very easy
Cause they're very holey walls!)

The Ugandan flag was then requested
And without any qualms,
The teacher cried "And now the flag!
And then the Coat of Arms!"

Now, I am not an artist
But I've given it my best,
I've painted all that I was asked...
Now they can paint the rest!

 

Steve on Toys...

With no electricity nor money, what do the kids play with?
What toys do they have?

Now, I'm not suggesting that these are the toys that may drag our own children away from all their modern, technical equipment, but I took a great deal of satisfaction watching various children using these improvised, handmade items of fun.

Missing 2 wheels - but it was obvious to us all from his sound effects that this was a motorbike that he was tearing around on!

Perhaps the most commonly seen toy - a simple hoop (old motorbike tyre here) with a triangulated stick to drive it along. Hours of fun!

This definitely had the most work put into it - a hand carved rolling piece of wood, for want of a better description, pushed along by a forked stick.

Bundles of dried foliage, wrapped up in a ball, whirled around the head at great speed, and also used for hitting each other. It's short lived but great fun, and plenty more material around! (Spot the 6 year old with the  machete. Is he the referee, I wonder?)

Two water butts and a funeral...

The guttering is going well
Two more houses done,
And Steve's been teaching football cause
You've gotta have some fun!

 We've had another successful week, completing 2 more houses, each a good half an hour's hike up and away from where we are.

Gredd has been nominated as our apprentice, and he's learning well so he will know how to fit the systems when we have gone.

Even when we are scientifically testing the direction of the gutter we try to conserve the precious water...

It has become the custom for us to receive a chicken from each family as a thank you for our work, and we seem to provide good entertainment for the children who come to watch.

On a sadder note, a lady in her 60's passed away after a long battle with AIDS, and as we are now accepted as part of the community we were invited to the funeral. The ceremony and burial is at the house of the deceased the day after the death, and the whole community turns up to show their respect and give food and money to the widower. The many speeches were followed by singing and dancing, and a celebration of her life. Many people spent the night at the house, sleeping amongst the trees anywhere they could find a space.

Things are back to normal now and next on the agenda is to paint the outside of the school!

Things you do for a chicken dinner...

We bought more gutters and tanks for houses
That sit at the top of the hill,
It's 2 hours up and down to fetch water
So the people think that it's brill!

Our friend Dizzy was due to arrive so we went to Kabale to meet him. Even more than looking forward to seeing him we were looking forward to a nice, hot shower! But, it was not to be. The town's water had been switched off for 2 days due to a "problem" (aaahh!!) so it was cold jerry cans once again to splosh with at the hotel. (Will we ever have a shower again?)

After completing the large school roof and fitting the 5000 litre tank (the equivalent to 250 trips to the spring with a 20 litre jerry can) the community decided it would be a good idea if we could fit gutters to some of the houses even higher up.
The first house chosen is owned by a couple in their eighties.

They are too old to fetch water, and as you can see the old lady's feet are too swollen to allow her much movement. They live with their grandchildren because both parents have died from AIDS.
It took, as always, a whole day to buy and deliver everything...

And another day to fit it all, having to improvise along the way...

And of course, everything is done in front of an audience of interested onlookers...

And naturally, a lot of happy faces at the end...

So grateful were they with all with our efforts that they presented us with a chicken when we were done!

Not like turning on a tap...

Julia and Steve went up the hill
To help the kids fetch water,
Jerry cans ready, they went up steady
Took twice as long as they oughta.

The kids ran down like mountain goats
Their bare feet strong and gripping,
With cans full now, they climbed, somehow,
Legs aching - sweat a-dripping!

We went down the treacherous path to the spring after it had had 2 days to dry out. Otherwise, we were told, it would be just too slippery for us. I wouldn't argue with that! Nor with the fact that they said 10 litres would be too heavy for me - I took the photos instead! The smallest child, who was eight, carried 5 litres, Steve managed 10 litres, (just) and Edmond who is 17 can carry 30 litres. The kids can make the journey up to ten times a day if they have to. Well... it's healthier than X-Box!

Day by day...

Lugging a bag of plimsolls
Was heavy and hot in the heat,
But the kids were everso happy
To have something to put on their feet!

Our last trip down and across the lake to the resort that has WiFi ended up an all day affair due to the afternoon thunderstorm coming early. Like the goats, we had to wait it out before leaving to cross the lake, and sheltering at every available spot...

We have had a couple more trips to Kabale to buy more materials as you can never get everything in one go. The same delivery truck got stuck in the mud AGAIN, and another one broke down just as we left town!
At least you can buy some nice, tasty pineapples in town for about 20p each!

We've been making the base for the water tank - constantly hunting down tools and suitable parts, and I've spent a couple of afternoons with the kids in school, working with the educational posters we brought. The children are like little sponges - extremely eager to soak up any new information and improve their English.
Then we all went outside, as the children were eager to show us some songs and dances to the beat of their drum. Afterwards they tried on the various sizes of shoes we'd brought, most of which fitted, but a few of the tiniest feet became the centre of some hilarity as they will have to wait a few years before they fit. However, they insisted on keeping them on!

Of the many people we encounter traversing the lake, today we saw these local women who had just arrived in a dugout canoe, and were preparing to climb the steep hill to sell or swap their bamboo baskets. These baskets are very strong with a concave base so they can be balanced easily on their heads.

Work Begins...

Imagine the things we could do
If we could buy a few tools and a screw.
Simple things that we need
Prove tricky indeed,
To buy them, and transport them too!

 If you've read the update on our GoFundMe site you will understand why connecting mains water is prohibitive, and the logistics of pumping water from the lake up to the village is costly and impractical.
Therefore Steve "The Engineer" and Julia AKA "Rodney the Labourer" have embarked upon a programme fitting gutters and storage tanks.

Having witnessed a couple of heavy thunderstorms, we realise that it is more difficult for the villagers to collect water during the rainy season as the steep, mud paths become treacherous. It was hard enough for us to negotiate the slippery mud and loose stone - we cannot imagine what it must be like with 25 litre jerry cans on our heads!

To us, the idea of fitting a bit of guttering to a roof is a simple and fundamental part of building a house. You just nip down to Screwfix and buy everything you need. Here, it is not so simple...

The general rule is...if you want it, you gotta make it! Like our homemade spirit level which isn't very accurate.
You cannot buy screws so we have to use nails (Steve's pet hate as they don't afford mistakes easily), the building isn't straight and the angles are deceiving.
Everything has to be bought from Kabale, the nearest town - a boat trip and 10km dirt track away, then transported back the long way round to the top of the hill, and carried down to the village by hand. Or on top of heads.
One trip back resulted in the truck narrowly missing skidding off the edge, and it was all hands to the pump to push it out.

Progress is slow, but at least we're making some!