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!