More of the Great Ugandan Outdoors- in south west Uganda

In the recent half-term, Andrew had 3 days off work. We were able to tag that on to a weekend and explore more of  beautiful Uganda.

Since we had our recent initiation into camping in Uganda with our trip to Nabogabo, we decided to venture out on our own to do a second camping trip!

Andrew chose Kabale as the destination, at a campsite on the edge of Lake Bunyonyi. And what a stunning choice it was!

Our campsite:

In this gorgeous rural location, there was plenty to do.,,

• Search for and try to catch crayfish at the edge of the lake (don't worry- the elephant is not real!!)

• Take a risk and swim in Africa's second-deepest and Uganda's deepest lake:

This last one was me, after jumping off the wooden diving baord at the side of the lake!!

It's quite strange jumping into water that just goes down and down and down and swirls orange around you as you begin to surface!
At the back of my mind were slight concerns about what might be living in the lake that might fancy a bite of English flesh.... It makes jumping in just that little bit more exciting.

• Taking time to cook our meals. This was the breakfast fry-up on a misty lakeside morning:

A curious weaver bird came to examine the contents of the frying pan onc we had eaten our breakfast:

Ben and Joel had purchased their own mini-pans and enjoyed making fires to cook their own meals:

And of course, we had our kettle to make tea, because this Brit could not manage 3 nights of camping without plenty of tea to keep her going!

• Rowing a hired wooden dug-out canoe on top of the endless depths of Lake Bunyonyi:

• A visit to "Adventure Island" to try the high ropes tree-top course- challenging but fun!

The high ropes course ended with a spectacular zip-wire ride across the lake from the island to the mainland! Although I felt a little nervous about my 3 children jusmping off the wooden platform on a high tree and zipping across a lake whcih was over 1km deep, all five of us took the leap! It was fun to be able to complete the course and I was relieved we all did so safely! :-)

The 8 hour drive to Kabale from Kampala was well worth it, for a trip into this unspoilt and stunning area of Uganda, near the border with Rwanda. What a great place to get into camping!

The Great Ugandan Outdoors

We've been getting outdoors over the past few weeks. And it's fun to discover the beauty of Uganda!

Camping at Lake Nabugabo

We had a relaxed weekend with 2 other families from our church at this beautiful lake, 3 hours drive out of Kampala.

Some of the kids enjoyed bike rides outside of the campsite, riding on the dusty village roads in the shade of the trees:

Some of the signs for nearby hotels made me smile :-)

Camping is a family affair- and here is happy proof of the mini-Parkers chipping in with the camping chores:

Ben was a whizz at making the camp-fire- and we all enjoyed toasting tasty marshmallows:

It is good to discover more of Uganda. 

This trip was my initiation into the world of camping- an activity I'm not too certain about! However, I'm willing to give it a try - let's see whether my enthusiasm can grow for holidays under canvas! Since I met no snakes, no man-eating beasts and did not get eaten alive by mosquitoes, we are definitely off to a positive start!

Early Morning Boat ride from Kampala to a Lake Victoria island

This week is half term. 

We started the week with a merry outing across Lake Victoria to an island about an hour's boat ride from shore. 

A MAF friend had organised the outing and it was a great success. 

A boat ride with home-packed coffee/tea and breakfast.

A short 2-hour hike on an unspoilt, rurual island, with time for a picnic brunch.

A return boat ride and group photo.

What a great way to spend a Monday morning! :-)

On the Island:

There were some animals to admire along the way- including this pig wth her piglets- and an enormous spider, almost the size of my fist!

Then it was time to return home. Gorgeously coloured kingfishers darted through the reeds as we sailed out of the island channel and water-birds waded peacefully through the shallows before we emerged onto the main lake, greeted by fishing boats hauling in their catch:

I was so happy to have both of these opportunities to take our children for trips which allow them - and us- to enjoy the natural beauty of the place where we live. 

Uganda has so much beauty and I hope that these outings will enable us to better appeciate this amazing world we live in and our responsibility to care well for it...

Final Guest Blog from MAF supporter, John Butterworth, on visiting Uganda

Neat end to our trip at the source of the Nile

Long-time MAF supporters John and Jan Butterworth spent two weeks in Uganda in August this year. They went to see Andrew and Liz Parker and their children Esther, Ben and Joel whom they have supported when they were in South Sudan and now in Kampala. In the third and final blog journalist John tells of visiting the source of the Nile.

We were told that a must for every visitor to Uganda was see the source of the River Nile on Lake Victoria at Jinja.

As good tourists we arranged for a taxi to pick us up from Kampala to take us on the two-and-a-half trip to The Haven guesthouse which had been recommended to us.

Every hotel claims it is in a good location, but this eco river lodge was spectacular, right on the Nile and 16 kilometres from Jinja. It is solar powered and has 24-hour electricity and UV filtered spring and rain water.

The restaurant and bar, plus the cottages, tents and bandas, all overlook the mighty Nile and its first waterfall, which is the starting point for the white water rafting trips.

It was so peaceful sitting there watching sunrise and sunset and during our two-day stay we saw fish eagles, fish otters, monitor lizards, monkeys, a sea snake and countless birdlife including dozens of colourful kingfishers.

Sunrise over the River Nile:

Breakfast at Jinja – the view from our table:

As we gazed at the river it was incredible to think that this ‘longest river in the world’ was beginning its 4,258-mile journey from the Equator to the Mediterranean. Incidentally, some claim the Amazon is the longest river.

This African river has two major parts – the White Nile and the Blue Nile which connect in Khartoum – and pours its waters over nine countries including Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, Ethiopia, Egypt and Uganda.

It is a major source of energy to many nations with the Owen Falls Dam providing hydro- electricity for Uganda and there’s another dam under construction.

It is a huge help to agriculture with its irrigation helping many countries along its way, particularly Egypt.

It is home to much wildlife and many sources of fish with the crocodiles in Egypt the longest and most dangerous.

Finally, it is a big attraction for tourists offering water rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking, boat rides as well as fishing, plus the chance to visit many historical sites along its banks in Egypt.

Amazingly, the drainage basin of the Nile covers 1,256, 591 square miles, which is about 10 per cent of the area of Africa. An even more staggering statistic is that only five per cent of the water we saw in the Nile in Jinja, Uganda, reaches Egypt.

On the second day we booked a four-hour boat trip to see the source of the Nile and to sail on Lake Victoria stopping for lunch at a pleasant island hotel.

On the way to the boat we passed a monument to Mahatma Ghandi, unveiled by the Prime Minister of India in October 1997. It commemorates that the ashes of the Indian independence leader, who was murdered in 1948, were scattered on the Nile and all the other main rivers of the world.

On board to set off for the beginning of the Nile:

Reaching the source of the Nile:

It was a fascinating – but very expensive day. Our advice to anyone thinking of visiting Jinja is be aware that it is a tourist trap and to barter hard as boat crews will try to charge extortionately high rates.

Then in the evening we had a meal with a Ugandan couple who worked with two friends of ours at Kisiizi Hospital in south west Uganda.

Barbara, a pharmacist, and Paul had moved to Jinja where he was building a house on land he had inherited and where they were starting a new ministry teaching pastors and their wives.

John and Jan meet Paul and Barbara:

Paul has an amazing story. His father had three wives so he ended up with eight brothers and ten sisters. He was sponsored by an American couple through school and then they paid for him to go to university in the USA.

He was very interested to hear about us sponsoring nine-year-old Bwambale through a Compassion project in western Uganda as it was such a similar story to his.

It was a very neat finish to our trip. 

We had started out visiting a young boy who was beginning his sponsored schooling and it ended with us seeing an adult who had successfully gone through a similar system and who told us how it had changed his life.

COMPASSION- Guest Blog, written by MAF supporter, John Butterworth

Showing Compassion to sponsored Ugandan boy, Bwambale

Long-time MAF supporters John and Jan Butterworth spent two weeks in Uganda in August this year. They went to see Andrew and Liz Parker and their children Esther, Ben and Joel whom they have supported when they were in South Sudan and now in Kampala. In the second of three blogs John tells of meeting Bwambale.

Besides visiting the Parker family the other reason we went to Uganda was to visit a nine-year-old boy we had been sponsoring for five years.

Through the international charity, "Compassion", we had been supporting Bwambale to ensure he has a basic education and regular medical check-ups.

Now we were going to meet him and his family at the project in the remote west of the country, only five kilometres from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At 8am on Monday, August 27 our driver and guide, Ham, picked us up from the Makindye Country Club, a lovely hotel on the edge of Kampala where we had stayed for our first week.

As he drove us in his minibus to Fort Portal and our hotel for the next two nights, he told us Compassion has 293 projects in Uganda where they look after 95,000 of the poorest children.

It was our first trip outside the capital and the tarmac roads, some built by Chinese money and contractors, were surprisingly good and much better than the pot-holed streets of Kampala.

It was interesting to pass through the lush green countryside and the towns full of mobile phone and hardware shops, plus stalls with locally grown fruit and vegetables for sale. We also saw the poorer side of life with children herding cattle, families collecting wood and people selling charcoal.

As we approached Fort Portal the landscape became more mountainous and more beautiful with banana, mango, avocado trees and coffee, tea and cocoa plantations on either side of the road.

Late afternoon we arrived at our modern conference and wedding hotel built only seven years ago. But we were surprised how few guests were there. Also there was no safe box in our room, plus a limited menu and no filter coffee in the restaurant – even though we had passed hundreds of coffee trees on our journey there. However, it was a pleasant stay with comfortable beds, good wi-fi, lovely gardens and bed and breakfast all for £20 each per night.

The following morning we set off on a two-and-a-half hour journey over the mountains to Compassion Project UG-256 in Bundimbuga district not knowing what to expect.

In the town we met Philip from the project as we wanted to buy some food for the children and Bwambale’s family.

It was only a corner shop but the owner enlisted the help of a mechanic waiting in the queue to go and fetch sugar, rice, bread and 250 lollipops from nearby stores to fulfil this unusual grocery order.

After a while the shopping was put in boxes and we were off with Ham and new passenger Philip for the half hour trip up a very bad sandy and rocky road.

As we turned the corner at the top we were overwhelmed to see 250 children all in tribal dress singing and dancing and going wild at the sight of our minibus. Their faces were covered in chalk with words of welcome written on their foreheads and out of the crowd stepped Bwambale to greet us.

What a welcome – the children greet us, singing and dancing:

The children then changed into their bright red school uniforms and we joined them and the staff in the church.

First meeting – John and Bwambale

 Although the building was basic with no glass in the windows the service was full of joyous African singing, dancing and praising God. The head girl gave a short sermon in English and Swahili before some pupils recited Biblical memory verses.

Afterwards the children were ecstatic to be given the 250 balloons and lollipops and we had enough left over for the villagers and the children looking in through the open windows.

Up in the air – the children enjoy their balloon gifts:

It is incredible that in the 21^st century in this remote part of Uganda there are no mains electricity, no TVs, computers and wi-fi. Even more amazing our translator Ham said some villagers had come specially to meet us as they had never seen a white person. Some of the children even asked whether we had red or white blood.

Showing Compassion – the project at Bundimbuga:

Next was our second breakfast of the day as we ate cows’ liver, plantain (fried bananas), eggs tomatoes and peanuts. Then Bwambale joined us in our minibus for the 15-minute ride to show us his two-roomed home and to meet his mum and dad, gran, aunt and uncle plus an older brother and sister and a younger brother.

His parents, who worked away in a cocoa plantation, had come home for this special day and very movingly they thanked us for our sponsorship and said what a difference it had made to Bwambale and the family.

Our presents to the family, including a Bible and a rucksack for Bwambale, were well received. Then we were shocked to be given gifts in return – a basket for Jan that his mum had made and a straw Ugandan hat and a football that Bwambale had put together for me out of banana tree fibres.

Later Jan was given a smart green and yellow beaded evening bag which one of the girls at the project had made.

Finally, I was taken outside where many villagers joined the family who presented me with a home-made wooden scooter. I had a go on it, much to the amusement of the crowd, before I presented it back to Bwambale asking him to look after it for me until I next came out to see him.

On his bike – Bwambale’s family present John, complete with his Ugandan hat and football made from banana fibres, with a wooden scooter they had made him:

Back at the project there was a lunch feast waiting of plantains, matoke, rice, cassava, chicken, beef, peanut sauce, watermelon and pineapple before we were shown Bwambale’s school and medical reports and a booklet with all the letters I had written to him.

Afterwards we were asked to plant a ‘Jan and John Umbrella tree’, with Bwambale’s help, to mark our visit before I played football with some of the children. Our final honour was to watch the project’s football final and to present a splendid trophy to the winning team, which I was delighted to see included Bwambale.

It was humbling to see none of the players had football boots; they all played bare-footed on a rough piece of ground with makeshift goalposts. Two minutes into the final a shot brought down one of the crossbars and there was a short delay while a new branch was found.

After a packed day it was time to say an emotional farewell as all 250 children sang and danced and followed our minibus down the track.

Everyone was so grateful for us coming – but the honour was ours. We learnt so much from them and were humbled to see all that they did even though they had so little.

The project has been going for four years, yet we were only the second sponsors to go and visit the site.

Some Compassion sponsors of other projects made it to Kampala and the children were brought to see them in the capital. But the visitors missed so much not seeing remote Uganda and the youngsters at school and in their homes.

It costs us £25 a month to pay for Bwambale’s basic education and medical checks, a small amount to us but it meant so much to Bwambale and his family.

As a journalist for 44 years I have been fortunate to have had some amazing times and experiences. But this day visiting Bwamble has to be one of the most unexpected, amazing and humbling days of my life.

Amani- meaning "Peace"

On December 12th 2016, a taxi drew up to large orange gates set within imposing concrete walls.

The taxi driver honked the horn of his vehicle and the gates were drawn open by a young, slim and conscientious guard.

This was how we met Amani, the day of our arrival at our Kampala home.

Amani had been appointed to work for us by MAF. We quickly realised that in this hard-working young man we had the perfect person to guard our home and keep our garden looking healthy, tidy and colourful.

It is a sad fact of life in Kampala that leaving our home unguarded is almost asking for a break-in. Having someone on the property for 24 hour security had to become the norm.

**************************

Amani came from Congo. He had fled to Uganda as a refugee, seeking peace when his home country was embroiled in conflict. Unemployed for long periods, he was glad to have work as a guard for a MAF home, despite being well educated in the French language with his Secondary level certificate.

Amani also spoke Swahili. Since he had not yet grasped English, I communicated with Amani in French and Andrew chose to communicate with him in Swahili.

Reliable, discreet, trust-worthy and with a keen work ethic, Amani proved to be a great asset as we settled into life in Kampala. Coming on time each morning, he helped to man the gates, cut the grass, manage the gardening and keep an eye on security.

If supplies ran low Amani would pop to the shops to grab what was needed.
If we needed to stay out later than his normal working hours, he was happy to be flexible and stay later, earning over-time and ensuring the property was not left unguarded.
When the car broke down and mechanics came, he was the spare pair of hands that helped out:

(Amani stands in the blue jacket in front of the car)

Once, I rushed out to drive the children to school and in my great haste, accidentally left the front door wide open. Amani simply guarded the door until our return. Scrupulously honest, our home was in safe hands.

When Harry arrived on the scene, he and Amani became easy companions. We had all settled into a smooth rhythm. We had peace of mind knowing that Amani was working for us- true to his name.

Keeping the garden pretty- thanks to Amani

Earlier this year, Amani announced good news- he was going to marry a girl from his native Congo! His family in Congo were sorting out the dowry that he would have to pay. We were pleased he would soon be able to bring his fiancee to Kampala as his wife.

In late May, he departed for Congo for three weeks to try to finalise arrangements for his marriage. He would be taking the bus for an arduous ride from Kampala into Congo.

Shortly before leaving, he had come to work looking unwell and explained that he had terrible stomach ache and could not do the gardening, but would it be OK if he just manned the gate and guarded the property for the last couple of days before his journey?

Thinking that this was just a stomach bug, I gave him some rehydration medicine and asked what the doctor had said. The doctor didn't seem to know what was wrong. Amani resolved to travel to Congo as planned, despite being in much pain.

When he left work for his journey, I didn't know that I would never see Amani again. We fully expected to see him in a few weeks, hopefully returning a married man with all marriage and dowry details finally resolved.

Very early on the morning that Amani was due back at work, his cousin came to see me and explained that Amani could not return because he was in hospital in Congo! His stomach pain had become intense. He had spent most of his time in Congo very poorly and in hospital. Contrary to expectation, the mystery illness worsened until the family decided to pay for him to be transferred to Burundi for an operation.

Stomach pain, wounds in his stomach and vomiting blood were the symptoms described to me. With renewed fighting and chaos in Congo, very little healthcare was available. His cousin sent me a photograph of Amani, in deprived conditions, looking very ill and in pain. It was sad to see.

We had to find a relief guard, but the new man was not so motivated to get on with the work and found it difficult to manage the dog. One afternoon he was unable to secure our heavy gates, not being used to the way they operate.
I drove down our steep driveway but cringed as the heavy metal gate came crashing into the side of the vehicle, ripping the mud guard off the side of the car. I cringed even more as the sharp edge of the gate scratched the paint, scraping along the side of the moving car. Argh!!

All was fixed later that day, but we missed the efficiency of Amani's work.

The relief guard then needed time off. We got a second relief guard. He worked happily for a couple of days but then did not turn up one day. Instead, he sent a message saying that he disliked the hours we had asked him to work and would only come if we employed him for the hours he had decided on. Hmmm- this did not bode well for an easy working relationship- so we asked the first relief guard to come back after his days off!

Poor Harry was beside himself as the people in the garden with him day by day kept changing. He became snappy and sprouted grey hairs in his black coat. The dog was stressed, not knowing who to trust.

Finally, Amani's cousin came to see me a  second time. He told me that Amani was actually too ill to be moved to the Burundi hospital.. I felt terrible for Amani. It was horrible to think of him suffering so much. We redoubled our prayers for him and for his finacee.

The cousin brought with him one of Amani's relatives- a calm, efficient young man- who took over Amani's role and worked for us in Amani's continued absence.

The day before we left for England, the phone rang. It was Amani's cousin. Upset, he told me that he had some bad news. He was right- it was horrible news. Amani had died that morning in Congo.  Relieved from his incessant pain but deprived of his upcoming marriage.

Shock hit hard. I wasn't expecting such finality. Both myself and Jane, the lady who works for us, were very upset by the sad news.

It seems life here can be short. War, poverty, refugee status, more war and inadequate healthcare because of war. So sad. So unecessary. Would Amani's life have been safely intact if he had lived in a developed nation, with stability, less poverty and access to proper healthcare?

Because we had to leave for England the next day, we were unable to atend the Kampala family gathering to show support and solidarity. Other relatives travelled to Congo for the funeral. We felt bad that we could not offer more support. other than a phone call to the family to say how much we had appreciated Amani and his good work.

In East Africa, funerals are expensive affairs where family and friends are expected to contribute. This was the least we could do- but it felt like so little. I left Kampala with a heavy heart for Amani's family and knowing that his finacee had great loss.

If you are a praying person, please keep his family and his finacee in your prayers. For comfort, for provision, for peace for the people of Congo.

Last week, I ventured across our garden to the guard's room where the guards change out of their everyday clothes to their working clothes and where they store any belongings they want to keep safe. I found Amani's work clothes hanging on the pegs, where he and I fully anticipated him taking them down to wear again.

As I laid eyes on his red and blue checked shirt, I pictured Amani standing in our garden, watering the plants and quietly going about his work. I brushed away the tears as I picked up his clothes and took them to the machine to wash them.

Later, as I hung out Amani's clothes to dry, both Esther and I had to swallow hard. How sad, to hang up his clothes knowing that there was now no Amani to wear them again...

 

Guest Blog: by John Butterworth: On cloud nine when I became a ‘co-pilot’ with MAF

On cloud nine when I became a ‘co-pilot’ with MAF   

Long-time MAF supporters John and Jan Butterworth spent two weeks in Uganda in August this year. They went to see Andrew and Liz Parker and their children Esther, Ben and Joel whom they have supported when they were in South Sudan and now in Kampala. In the first of three blogs John tells of a big surprise on their third day of their holiday.

It is every boy’s dream to sit in the front seat of a plane next to the pilot.

I had to wait until I was 65 years old but I was still as excited as any youngster as I put on my headset when I was invited to join MAF pilot Eivind in the cockpit of the 17-seater Cessna 208 Caravan.

We had arrived only on the Sunday to see the mission society’s work at first hand and on the Monday we were told there were two free seats on the plane the next day. Were we interested?

We were not going to miss that chance of a lifetime and we were ready for the 6.30am lift to the Kajansi airfield between Kampala and Entebbe.

After a safety briefing, and the other six passengers and luggage safely onboard, we then had clearance for take-off for the first of our three stops, Kotido in remote North Eastern Uganda, home of the Karamojong people.

With my headset on it gave me a fascinating glimpse of the two-way communication between the control tower and the pilot.

On the right wavelength – ‘Co-pilot’ John Butterworth

Ten minutes after take-off I was slightly unnerved to see heavy rain and lightning on the left side of the plane.

It was also a little worrying to see Eivind looking out of the window and steering his way through a gap in clouds as he explained the plane was not built to go through heavy rain clouds, particularly if there were hail stones.

But he reassured me that was normal procedure and the rain soon stopped. As the sun came out we enjoyed the spectacular scenery of crossing the River Nile and looking down on the new hydro-electric dam being built hundreds of feet below.

The headset gave me the chance to chat one-to-one with Eivind as he explained how he had joined MAF and how he had grown up partly in Norway and partly in Ethiopia where both his parents and grandparents had been missionaries.

I was also impressed to hear that he had traced his family tree back to the 9^th century. I am still struggling back in the 19^th century tracing my ancestors.

Soon it was the first landing of the day in Kotido. I looked in vain for the grass strip runway as we flew over sparsely populated areas with tribal settlements and small flocks of sheep and goats.

A view of some of the settlements from the air

There was no one to be seen as we made a fairly smooth landing in a scrubland clearing.

As the plane came to a stop, out of nowhere appeared villagers in colourful tribal dress to greet us. I had seen that type of picture in many missionary magazines but now those pages came to life.

A tribal welcome as we land in Moroto

I thought about Liz Parker’s mum who had spent some time there as a teacher with the Church Missionary Society and how she was able to revisit the Kotido airstrip near to her old school thanks to MAF in August last year. (See blog post: Monday, 28 August 2017  “MAF Makes a Dream Come True” )

 Then on the horizon there was a cloud of smoke as a vehicle came towards the grass track and two English grandparents boarded our plane after saying tearful farewells to their grandchildren and their two parents working as Christian doctors in remote Uganda.

It would probably be a couple of years before the family would be reunited again.

But what an itinerary for Gran and Grandpa: Kotido – Moroto – Soroti – Kajjansi – Entebbe – Dubai – London Heathrow. No other passengers on Emirates Airlines would be able to match that.

We were soon taking off again, this time for the short hop to Moroto to drop off and pick up more passengers before flying on to Soroti where I changed places with my wife Jan and she put on the headset for the return journey sitting next to the pilot.

Back at the MAF base we had lunch with some of the other MAF pilots, including Andrew Parker who had flown in a smaller Cessna 206 plane to north-west Uganda that morning.

After a tour of the hangar and the engineering/ repair centre we were taken back to our Kampala hotel after an amazing day.

Although I had been an MAF supporter all my life it was amazing to hear at first hand some of the vital work that MAF does all over the world:

- transporting sick patients to hospital

- taking Christian workers to remote outposts

- bringing important relief to people in Uganda and South Sudan.

I was privileged to be a ‘co-pilot’ and to have such a bird’s eye view of Christian work on this flying visit that few have the chance to see.

A Few Spots of Bother

It's been over 2 months since I sat at my blog and wrote an update. Too long! It's funny how busy life can become.

June rushed past, as we prepared for our MAF "Home Assignment" back in our passport-country of England. A country where I am the only member of my family with long-term roots. My husband is South African and my children have grown up across 5 African countries, feeling more like "home" is within Africa rather than England.

Despite this fact, England always welcomes us warmly and we are made to feel loved and "at home" for the few weeks we spend there. We are ever grateful for the kindness and support of family, friends, church families and MAF supporters. We had a special and wonderful time in the UK, for which we are very grateful.

We arrived back in Uganda on August 14th, Harry was overjoyed to have his family back, bouncing energetically from one Parker to the next.

 Even the cat deigned to acknowledge our return with a swift rub around each pair of ankles!

Since our arrival back in our Kampala home, life has been FULL ON!

Two days after our arrival, the new academic year was due to begin...

In a flurry of  preparation, it was straight down to "Garden City" shopping centre the day after landing. In Kampala. the children's school requires us to buy all of their books and stationery. A new school year means stocking up on pencils, pens, paint, exercise books, folders files... etc.

The fuel in our newly-serviced car was low and the traffic was more chaotic than I had remembered! The trip took longer than I had budgeted for, which often seems to happen when I return from the order of the UK to unpredictable Africa, but happily our children had their school resources all ready for the first day of school.

(photo credit: clipart)

Back at school, the children were delighted to rediscover Kampala friends, to find their new classrooms and teachers. After an exceptionally looooooong school holiday, the children would finally get back into a routine- or so we thought!

The children had just 2 days of school- a Friday and then a Monday. On Tuesday, a public holiday was proclaimed for Eid! School was shut and we had an unexpected day at home. Esther had a friend to visit, but by the end of the afternoon, Esther was looking poorly. Her sunny disposition was muted and she was running a low-grade temperature.

"Oh, she's just over-tired with the journey and getting back into Kampala life", we told ourselves.

 Esther started to feel quite dizzy and her temperature was persistent. We kept her at home on Wednesday - another day without routine.

On Thursday, Esther presented herself in the kitchen at a late 8:45am, one and a half hours after her brothers had left for school. To her and my horror, she was COVERED in bright red spots! Her head hurt, her fever was still present. She described feeling like she was moving around in a dream.


An hour later, we arrived at the doctor's surgery, to be told that Esther had rubella (German Measles). Without a doubt, she had picked up the virus in England and unwittingly brought it back to Kampala! She was tearful. And her mother was tearful. How could I have missed her vaccination for rubella? Did that mean I had neglected my duty as her Mum and miss a booster or in fact both MMR vaccinations?

The doctor and I examined Esther's records of vaccination and could find NO mention of MMR ever being administered. The records were hard to decipher- one set of records was from South Africa, where all of her inoculations had been recorded in Afrikaans! Neither myself nor the Ugandan doctor could fathom what they all meant! But MMR was not among those written.

Next, we examined her English medical records. Next to the gap marked "MMR" there was only a tick- no date and no doctor's signature. What did the tick mean? Had I ticked that gap to remind myself to get this inoculation or had I ticked it when it was administered? It was a mystery to me-  I simply could not remember what I had meant when I ticked that box 10 years ago!

Next, we looked for some records of her medical history through her time in Tanzania, Kenya and South Sudan, but all we could find were her tropical vaccination record. Thankfully, I had been scrupulous in keeping up to date with her tropical diseases immunisation schedule- but not so organised with her general childhood illnesses. I felt terrible. I looked guiltily at the doctor. He smiled warmly at me.

"Don't worry", he said, "she will get over this and then we can arrange a new schedule to get her vaccines up to date."

His kindness stilled my tears; but I still felt bad for Esther.

On Friday evening, she rested in darkness in her bed, cloistered in her room while 10  pre-invited guests joined us for a BBQ at home. The visiting children communicated through the lattice window and mosquito netting. Poor Esther. She was too unwell to care about what was happening outside and she certainly did not feel like eating any BBQ chicken kebabs, but still- it's never pleasant to miss out. :-(

My little girl lay mostly in bed Thursday and Friday, finally emerging on Saturday mid-morning. Headache, chills, fever, vomiting and sensitive eyes, not to mention the unsightly rash, were hopefully on their way out. That afternoon an American doctor friend kindly came to examine her and reassured us that she was doing well. She suddenly seemed brighter and more energetic. That evening, her spots started to fade before our very eyes!

With the nasty spots fading, the worst was over. Today, she returned to school. Horray!

I drove her and 6 other MAF kids to school this morning, with a little drama on the way... I managed to get our enormous car stuck in a tight spot down a narrow mud road! With tears of frustration and panic, I had to reverse my vehicle uphill and over slippery mud as the wheels lost their grip and spun in protest at my manoeuvres. The tight corners and mud were challenging for reversing, not to mention the 10 minutes I wasted trying to get back on to a better route to school!!! Grrrrrrr! A little bother- but we still got to school on time (just!!).

Trouble with German measles has not been the only disturbance of Kampala life over the past week. Political unrest has resulted in riots in town and security restrictions on our movement around town, interfering with our everyday life. See this BBC link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45257309


As often happens in life, the trouble happened to coincide with visitors arrving! Two lovely, wonderful MAF UK supporters are visiting us here in Uganda for 2 weeks. Jan and John said they wanted, " to just see your everyday life". Well, they've definitely seen a bit of reality here in our Ugandan life!

They've had their city tour cancelled because of riots. They sat in my car as I did a hasty U-turn on a main road where security concerns necessitated a swift change of plan. The street we were driving had become too dangerous to drive down.

They spent a day at the doctor's with Esther and I last Thursday- and what a comfort they were to this upset MAF wife and her measley daughter! Such a blessing to have them with us.

They have done emergency babysitting of my poorly daughter when I had to rush out and collect other kids from school and was not allowed to take my contagious Esther in the car with me.

They have seen our Kampala life, in all its unpredictability and chaos... as well as the joy of our community, the thrill of a MAF flight and a visit to the beautiful Speke resort. But that is another blog post!

Until then, I am glad we have got over the most recent spots of bother and I look forward to a  more settled period ahead!