I was trying to find examples for our children to illustrate what can be different in Uganda from life in England.
As I reflected on this, several examples sprung to mind- and this is just from the last few weeks in Kampala...
Electricity
Power cuts are a fact of life in many developing cities.
Amazingly, in Kampala, the local electricty company has a What's App number that you can contact when the power goes off. This is great news, because it allows me to contact them and find out when the power might be coming back on - and it also gives me a record of how often it goes off!
It generally goes off every time it rains but also goes off randomly at other times.
Last week it was off on 4 different days, but Thursday was the longest power cut, of around 11 hours, starting before 9am.
Just when power came back for Friday, we discovered a fault on our water pump which needed to be fixed. We had to ask our MAF housing manager to contact our landlady, to get permission to contact the electrician! Permission was granted and the electrician came. :-)
After he left on Friday evening, we discovered another fault- and this time, it was our outdoor security lights which were not working. Not a pleasant state of affairs in a city as riddled with crime as Kampala.
Thankfully, we got permission to have the electrican back again on Tuesday-and now the faults are fixed!
And today our power is on! Horray!
Water
For drinking water, we never use tap water, for risk of getting sick. This concept is so natural to our children that they find it such a novelty to drink water straight from a tap on our UK visits!
Our trusty "Katadyn" filter has kept us cholera-free and no doubt saved us from many other bugs too, from Tanzania, to Kenya, to South Sudan, to Uganda over almost 10 years in East Africa.
Last week, I realised it needed a bit of a clean. As began cleaning it, I was appalled at just how dirty city water is - and incredibly grateful to have such a great filter system to use.
Look at the filth- after 5 minutes of cleaning and still quite a bit of cleaning to do...
City water is piped into our kitchen, but for the rest of the house, we are dependent on water pumped from a huge water tank that fills up with rainfall.
The tank had become so dirty and the pipes so damaged that water pressure in our house had drastically dropped. Instead of taking a shower, we had to take a dribble! This is not great for a pilot, after a long, hot day of work in equator temperatures!
Water that came through was sometimes filthy because of the damaged state of the pipes coming into our house:
Plumbers came on Tuesday to try to resolve the problem, but instead the problem confounded. Sometimes when you try to fix one thing, it unearths a heap of new problems!
From Tuesday to Friday we only had cold water coming into the kitchen tap. Toilets could not be flushed. Showers had to be taken at friends' houses. Brave Ones among us took a bucket shower, using the cold water!
Thankfully, on Friday, the plumbers were able to come back and fix the problem.
It is incredible how much more you value water after living just a couple of days in a house without it. Ben's comment summed it up. "It makes me really appreciate water now and be thnakful for it".
Sadly, the reality for so many of our neighbours here is that they do NOT have access to clean, running water in their homes.
Daily, we see children carting heavy jerry cans or buckets of water up the street from a local tap or water source, back to their homes. It is hard work having to bring water to your house. It makes you very careful how you use it too.
We are sorely aware of the challenge our neighbours face...
Public services
There is a police force in Uganda - but no emergency access by dialling 999.
Although the police are there for law and order, it is sometimes hard to know how best to contact them. Sometimes it is hard to know the channels to work through, or to trust a system I don't understand as a foreigner.
This can make it disturbing when we face difficult incidents.
Last Sunday morning, we saw a dishevelled man sitting on a muddy bank at the side of the road. He was bleeding from a head wound. Blood was splattered all over his naked chest and drying on his dark skin. He looked disorientated and also helpless as he sat, alone and yet many people passed by without so much as a glance in his direction.
The children were worried for him. I was upset to see him in that state- and yet we didn't know what to do. There are no services available to call for help.
If we stopped, would he be intoxicated and hurt our children? Was it dangerous to tend someone with open blood wounds?
Shamefully, we continued to church, feeling like hypocrites, feeling like cowards and yet not knowing what to do or who to ask for help for the man in this sorry state...
Then on Friday morning, I happened to drive past a crowd in the street that had gathered to spectate and to jeer at a woman and 2 men who were in the throes of a violent domestic brawl. The men were pushing, the woman was screaming and grabbing at one of the men, bits of hair were flying as these threee adults fought and shouted in the street. Boda drivers stopped their motorbikes and paused to watch, welling the already growing crowd.
It was most upsetting.
I wasn't sure who I could call, so I decided to drive to a nearby education centre where I know there are security guards.
I asked the guard to take his truncheon and run down the street to help break up the fight. He was willing to help.
Ten minutes later the fighting adults had been separated and the crowd dispersed. Such a relief.
However, as I drove home, I found I was shaking. I couldn't get the scene out of my mind and was worried for the lady. She was on my mind and in my prayers all day.
I also felt so angry with the way people were standing about to watch. It felt like people treated the scene as a TV show to entertain, rather than a disturbing and dangerous event that hurt real-life people. This is no better than England a few generations ago, where people went to watch hangings as a form of twisted entertainment. However, it was not the England I grew up in. It was hard to witness it in modern day Kampala.
Weather
We love Kampala weather. It is generally predictable- warm and dry, with occasional, dramatic downpours.
Most of our meals we can eat outside on our patio area:
Painting projects for school can be done outside- happily, this means less mess inside! :-) Joel was completing his science project here, making a model of Jupiter:
A couple of weeks ago we had the school Fun/ Sports Day. There was no need to worry about it being rained off. Instead, we just had to ensure the children could all keep cool and didn't get sunburnt!
Sunrises at this time of year are gorgeous and a real treat to observe from our window:
When we get rain and storms, the weather changes dramatically! Fierce winds, assertive clouds, booming thunder and crazy lightening provide an energetic show to watch from our patio:
In all honesty, I do not miss British weather. When we see photos of ice and snow, my children find the concept hard to grasp, since they have never really experienced them!
Shopping
What do we do when we need new furniture?
We pay a visit to the carpenter's yard, of course!
A few weeks ago, Andrew and I went to see carpenter Vincent. Instead of gifts this year, we pooled our Christmas money and invested in 8 new chairs to sit around the dining table which Andrew made.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the chairs were ready! We went to fetch them- and I have to say, Vincent has done a great job!
Transport
Where else but Kampala do we take our UK guests around town on motorbike taxis? I think our UK visitor Oliver quite enjoyed the ride!
If I am driving in this capital city, I have to remember to watch out for pedestrians --- and animals! You never know when a stray cow or goat may want to cross the road!
And if a friend needs a short ride down the road, but my car is full of kids, she and her daughter can just hop onto our foot board and hitch a lift! No pesky health and safety regulations to stop the ride!
No need to comment!
Celebrations- with rich international flavour!
Last Friday the children's school had their annual International Dinner. Every nation represented at the school sets up a table decorated with national symbols and provides food samples for the 600 plus guests to try.
There are musical and dancing shows from many nationalities, from the teachers, students and parents at the school. It is great fun and such a fantastic cultural experience for our children!
Here are Finland, South Sudan and Uganda with their fabulous displays:
The British table, which we manned, boasted donations of cucumber sandwiches, coronation chicken, shepherd's pie- and these wonderful marmite fingers! What's a British culinary show without marmite??
A little taste of England to bridge the gap between the differences between living in Uganda and life in Britain...
