As the lockdown eases...

So here we are, its mid-July and the pandemic continues to cause chaos around the world. It is a strange time and all of us have been affected.

We are now well into our long school holidays. We are glad to be in our home in Uganda and to be together as a family and with our MAF team, although of course we are sad that we had to cancel visiting the UK this year.

Easing Restrictions:

Here in Kampala, some restrictions have eased and people are moving around again, although it is with more caution. Many restaurants, shops and hotels have reopened, which is lovely. There are, of course, restrictions. Hand-washing is a must outside the venues and also once inside. Many places, as in the rest of the world, have staff who hold an infra-red thermometers up to our foreheads to take our temperature, at a safe distance, before we can be allowed to enter the site.

We are supposed to wear masks in public and many of us do but out on the street, fewer and fewer masks can be seen! We make sure the kids keep their masks on when they are out and about:

Esther's mask is falling down here, but don't worry- we have since bought her a new one which does not slip!

Curfew:

We still have curfew. No movement is permitted between 7pm and 06:30 am. I have to be honest and tell you that I love the quiet evenings this brings. No bars, no raucous music, no loud-speakers blaring out announcements and no traffic noise. Just the call of the owls and bats and the ever-present chorus of crickets- the sounds of a rural African night, right here in the city. It's beautiful.

However, it can sometimes be stressful trying to ensure everyone is home before the last rays of sunlight dip below the horizon at 7pm.

A few weeks ago, our day-guard Samuel was walking home (not on a work day!) and got caught out. At 7:10pm he was still on the street with two friends. They were spotted by the police and arrested. He spent a most unpleasant night in a prison cell and had a hefty fine to pay. This is a definite deterrent to breaking curfew for all of us!

Samuel back at work after his ordeal:

Rules for travel:

On the road, we are allowed four people maximum in a vehicle. This is a step forward from last month when we were only allowed three people in a car. That rule was trickier for me in these long school holidays, since I could take two children out in the car with me and had to figure out where the third child could stay while the rest of us went out!

Now I can take all three of my children out with me when I go to the shops or to grab a milkshake at the cafe or to visit friends.

For two months, we were not allowed to drive at all, which was wonderful in terms of far less pollution and beautiful clear skies, but not always practical! However, we got good exercise and walked where we could.  I even walked 5 miles one day to sit outside and have a birthday cuppa with a friend to celebrate her special day!

For shopping, we had some excellent boda riders who collected our shopping for us and were a great help.

One of these riders was Mr. J, for whom the restrictions have been very hard. As a boda driver, he collects his income mainly from moving passengers from A to B. Their fare was his income. Since March, boda drivers are not allowed to carry passengers. Even if they carry goods for people, it doesn't raise enough money to feed their families. Since his wife is a teacher, their income has all but disappeared. Schools remain closed and in a country where your income comes directly from school fees, there is no money coming in for Mr. J's wife. Parents don't want to pay fees when schools are closed. It is tough for so many families.

Mr. J. loaded up with a box of goods for me:

Restrictions = hardship for many

It is sad to see the increase in people begging on the streets of Kampala since lockdown. The implications of closed businesses and markets and the lack of tourists coming into the country has hit the poorest and made life even harder.

It is difficult to know how to best help, especially when little children like this come begging for money.

MAF Uganda in lockdown times

Flights have been grounded since the end of March, so it has been an extremely quiet season for MAF Uganda. At the end of May, our pilots were able to fly essential household goods to western Uganda to help assist in the effort to support the community of Kassese. This region was hit by severe flooding - many people lost their homes and their local hospital and school were washed away.

It was good that MAF could get airborne to help bring goods and aid to the people of Kasesse.

At Entebbe, loading up the supplies that need to be transported (Andrew is already in the cockpit if you look closely!)

 (photo credit, Sam Baguma)

At Kasesse for unloading the essential supplies:

(photo credit, Dave waterman)

Last week, Andrew was able to fly important medical goods to a hospital in Bakavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Naturally he loved being back in the cockpit and doing his job again.

Education:

Schools remain closed and children are all back in houses and homes. The majority of Ugandans I speak to do not have access to online facilities to do school online and often teachers don't either.

To compensate, the national newspapers have ingeniously taken up the mantle of helping their people. Each week, they print work for school students in their newspapers. Each week the work for a different age group is printed, so that parents have some way of continuing education with their children at home. It is a sporadic way for children to access their school work, but it is something and it allows a certain measure of progress, even if it slower than school.

Last week, I went to drop off some teaching resources at the Centre of Refuge and Hope. It was poignant to see the still-empty classrooms.

This is where I taught one of my English classes, every Tuesday for two years. Normally, I would be looking out over a class of up to forty adult students, but now the plastic chairs are stacked and the room sits in eerie silence:

Since August last year, the Beginner level adult class moved downstairs to this larger classroom because student numbers increased and we had over 50 students enrolled in each Beginner class. I took this photo during one of my March classes this year while the students were working on a shared activity:

 

When I walked through this room on Thursday, it was also empty and felt unnaturally quiet. My footsteps echoed in a place normally filled with the sound of English language learning. 

I took a quick tour around the back of the centre to have a last glimpse at the classroom where I taught the children's English classes. I found it locked and bolted:

Normally a hub of youthful energy, noise and lively conversation, it felt strange that it was so abandoned.

Last month, I gave notice at the Centre of Refuge and Hope, as I start to prepare for my exciting new teaching job at Heritage International School. I will miss my refugee students, especially the children, and the staff I worked with- it has been a fantastic, eye-opening experience working at this inspirational centre.

We continue to hope and pray that education centres like this and also schools may be able to open again soon- and that the virus comes to an end as a vaccine or preventative medicines are developed.

I am due to start my full-time teaching job at the beginning of August, as a teacher for the 6 to 7 year olds at Grade One.

Like the rest of the world, we wait and watch to see what will happen.... :-)