Anniversary Adventure

On Thursday Andrew and I celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss ;-)

To mark the occasion, we planned a fun day out.... an adventure to explore some of the prominent sites of Kampala. I chose five venues to visit on our day tour.

We set out just after 9am on Andrew's motorbike, our helmets firmly in place to brave the chaos of Kampala's traffic!

We teamed up with another couple, who had arranged to ride on local boda boda (motorbikes). Their obliging drivers were set to show us the way to visit the five sites that I had requested.

• We started at the palace of the local tribal king- the Buganda king, known as "kabaka."

Apparently, once we entered the compound, all women automatically become the property of the king and have to cover themselves with propriety- which in our case turned out to be an orange rectangle of material! I'm not sure how Andrew felt about giving his wife over to another man on our anniversary!

Tour guide Augustin led us around the grounds of the palace and related the rather bloodthirsty history of the kings of the Buganda tribe. The actual palace now lies empty because all the blood shed there makes it an unappealing residence for the current king.

Part of the tour led us into the dreadful torture chambers used by dictator Idi Amin during his reign of terror. In this dingy, dark, underground hideaway, Idi Amin ordered the torture and death of over 19,000 men.
Following on from Amin, Obote retaliated against those who had been loyal to Amin. A further 7,000 men were condemned to die gruesome and cruel deaths in the belly of this concrete monstrosity.

It was a sobering visit.

We finished the tour with a walk around the photo gallery that chronicles the family members of the Buganda Royal family from the late 1800s, when photography first reached Uganda. It was fascinating to hear and see history from the Kampala region.

• Our next venue was the Catholic cathedral of Rubaga, set high on one of Kampala's hills.

I would like to say we zoomed up the hill, but that's not quite true! The motorbikes we use here are not known for their speed! Just for their resilience and for being large enough to fit passengers (sometimes several!!) behind the driver!

We arrived at the cathedral and parked the bikes under a nearby, shady tree:

Rubaga cathedral boasts some beautifully constructed stained glass windows. Sadly, though, these windows portray the tragic stories of some of the 46 Christians murdered for their faith by Mukasa II- one of the Buganda kings. He had felt threatened by the rise of Christianity in his kingdom. Several of the windows show the martyrs receiving baptism before being forcefully taken to their death at Namowongo, just outside of Kampala.

It was a sad kind of illustrated history lesson.

Our lovely guide, Rose, also showed us the ancient organ donated from Germany over 100 years ago. She unlocked the wooden cover - and was most obliging when I asked if I could try my hand at playing a few notes! 

I enjoyed the colours chosen for the church interior- definitely bright and cheerful and a great reflection of local choice!

It was a cathedral well worth visiting. I was gaining a better understanding of this city we live in as I added to my sketchy historical knowledge of Kampala.

• Our third stop was Namirembe Anglican cathedral, to visit their small museum. 

I have visited this venue several times for inspiring musical events, but Andrew and our friends had never been and none of us had visited the cathedral's Cultural Centre. 

We collected another guide. This time, Rosetta led us around the cathedral's "archive chamber". This spacious room was packed with photographs, information boards and models depicting the history of the churches which had stood on this site.

The current cathedral is the fourth cathedral constructed here since the 1880s. Lightening strikes, gale force winds and ambitious architects have all contributed to the volume of buildings!

We learnt more about the martyrs and some history of the Anglican bishops sent from England to support the church here in the 1800s- one of whom was captured and killed for his faith by the local king. 

Another died of fever before even reaching Kampala. 

Yet another was a key figure in a spiritual revival which swept through Uganda. 

We even read about one church leader half a century ago who felt compelled to sell his motorbike in order to dedicate himself better to serving God. I wondered what he would have to say if he heard of us riding around Kampala on Andrew's bike today!

We took some time to get a few pictures before leaving this impressive cathedral site:

• After this, we four mounted our trusty bodas to set off into the heart of Kampala city to visit Kampala's- and indeed, Uganda's- first ever shopping centre!

Andrew and the other boda drivers deserve a medal for their incredible feat of driving through the utter CHAOS and bedlam that is Kampala city centre!

 I would have loved to have taken some photos! However, it is ill advised to have the phone or camera in your hand as you squeeze between trucks, buses, other boda drivers, pedestrians, cars or traders staggering through the crowded streets with heavy sacks of goods balanced between their shoulder blades. The risk of either dropping your phone or having it swiftly swiped from your hand is high!

After a hot, hair-raising and incredibly fascinating and colourful ride, we made it into Kampala's gritty downtown!

We dismounted, left the other two boda drivers in charge of all three motorbikes and headed into "Pioneer Mall". The slogan above the entrance says it all: "the first and still the best mall in Uganda" !!

We ate our lunch at the advertised "Antonio's" cafe. I was so hungry that my trademark East African "chicken and chips" was polished off in no time!

• Happy, with out tummies full and with the glow of having survived a motorbike ride through the labyrinth of Kampala's busy streets, we embarked on our final destination.

In stark contrast to the noise, heat and rather interesting (!!) smells of the city centre, we headed back up the hill into Kampala's hotel district. To finish off our anniversary tour, we enjoyed a most civilised cup of coffee at the newly constructed and somewhat opulent "Pearl of Africa" hotel.

I thoroughly enjoyed our 14th wedding anniversary! What a way to celebrate being in Kampala together- and to now look forward to more years here with a better understanding of the place we live in.

Terrific Tuesday!

It's not every day that you go shopping and find yourself winning a prize when you check out!

There's an Eritrean supermarket near to the children's school. I went to do my shopping there on Tuesday morning - it seemed to cost a lot of money even though I did not feel like I bought many items.

Here is my shopping, boxed up for me by the staff, plus the huge bag of dog food for Harry:

After paying my bill, I was given a SURPRISE!! Apparently a local bank was doing a promotion and when customers paid a certain way, they were liable to win a prize - and I was one of the winners!! YIPPEE!!! I won 6 vouchers to spend in the shop during the month of December with the value of 60,000 Ugandan shillings. I love surprises! And I love to win vouchers! So it made the sting of the high cost of shopping suddenly seem insignificant :-)

While the staff sorted out my vouchers, I was given a chair to sit on and one of the staff came to chat to me. I was made to feel like a prized customer as I sat on my high stool observing the other customers checking out in the normal fashion!

I was duly presented with my vouchers by the bank representative- Mr. "Swipe and Win".

I felt very excited!! It's not every day one receives a surprise win- and it made my morning!

The Kampala "Marathon"

This weekend, one of Uganda's largest mobile phone companies, MTN, sponsored a marathon to raise money for two worthy causes, as quoted on their website below:

1. To reduce exposure of school children to cancer caused by carcinogens in asbestos roofing of public schools.
2. To improve maternal health through providing better facilities in Kiswa and Komamboga health care centres.

A few of us from MAF Uganda joined together as a team to take part in the fun! There were options to run 21km, 42km- or 10km.

Most of us on the MAF team only opted for the 10km run... along with THOUSANDS of other participants!!!

To get an idea of how many people we were, there are some great photos on a local newspaper's website- follow this link:

https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1465961/pictures-thousands-grace-mtn-kampala-marathon

It was 6am when I set off with our night guard to walk the short but dark distance to a nearby garage to meet up with some of our fellow MAF-team runners.

As the sun came up, we climbed into a friend's minibus and set off to the race starting point in town:

We were dropped off by another friend and walked to the Kololo airstrip where an impressively organised venue had been set up for the race start and finish.

There was time for some group pictures as we congregated:

A few of us ladies also took time to make a quick visit to the less-than-desirable toilets! We took turns to hold the doors of the long-drop loos for one another whilst trying not to pass out from the stink that emanated from the general area!

Soon all the 10 km race runners were being called to order by booming voices bursting from loud- speakers on one of the giant stages.

We made our way into the throng of runners- and I mean throng!  It was not easy to stay together. We often had to grab each other's hands to stop ourselves being swallowed up in the thousands which made up our crowd of participants.

Suddenly...
... we were off!!! However, with so many thousands of runners it was a slow start, as we struggled to find space to move independently!!

We were immersed in a SEA of yellow and blue, as all runners had been kitted out in MTN yellow running tops and caps. 

However, we MAF-ers ditched the MTN caps and wore MAF hats!

Once we were able to get going, I tucked away my phone and therefore my camera and we set off for 10 km of running, up and down Kampala's hills. It was already getting hot by 7:30am! Thankfully, there were a couple of water stations en route where bottled water was handed out- WONDERFUL relief!!

It was around an hour later when some of us crossed the finish line. We found our speedier team-mates already relaxing on a grassy patch of  Kololo airstrip, enjoying the shade of a tree! 

We joined them for some victory photos, but those pictures really are so terribly unflattering (with our red, shiny, sweaty faces!!)  that I will not be posting them here- because of my own vanity and out of respect for my team-mates!!

However, just to prove that we were still smiling at the end of the race, here is a photo from our ride home!

Our new baby!!!

Yesterday, an 8 Week Old joined our family....

Meet Harry- our new hairy friend!! We went as a family to collect him and bring him home across town in our car on Saturday morning:

Harry is our first ever dog as a family. We will be learning about how to raise a dog as Harry settles in!

Silver, our cat, is not overly impressed- when they first met he seemed to think that Harry was just passing through...

It's a bit of a shock to his system that Harry is here to stay!

UPDATE

It's been rather a long time since I have updated this blog. Time seems to slip by more quickly in Kampala: life has become busier and busier. This appears to be one of the natural consequences of living as a family in a large city.

Another significant demand on my time has been my decision to enrol on a TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). This course has been divided into two sections.

First of all, I have been completing an online grammar course. This course saw me refreshing my knowledge of, or even adding to, my knowledge of English grammar.

What a complicated language we native English speakers have! I have had my brain challenged by modal verbs, gerunds, transient and intransient verbs, participles, compound nouns and adverbial phrases, not to mention the thirteen tenses of the English language!

The second part of my course was a classroom-based, intensive course. This took place during the recent half-term week in October. For this section of my TEFL course I travelled from Kampala all the way to Scotland's Edinburgh!

In Edinbugh's Glasshouse Hotel I joined a group of other TEFL students. where an excellent tutor took us through several days of theory, grammar practice and practical skills. It was time well spent! It was a brilliant course, with plenty of time for us to engage in activities, plan and deliver English lessons to our fellow students and to give and receive invaluable feedback.

Edinburgh's Glasshouse Hotel conference room: a world away from the heat and chaos of Kampala!

Admittedly, Edinburgh was a lot colder than Kampala- but it was rather fun to wear a different wardrobe! Fun to wrap up in a toasty coat and don a colourful scarf, to wear furry boots and long jeans!
 I had the privilege of being able to stay with good friends from University- although as we met up we found it hard to believe that it is 25 years since we first met at Nottingham University! I don't feel old enough to have a history like that!

Here is a Monday morning selfie at a breezy 7 a.m.- I prepare to take the bus into town, as Fiona kindly gets up early to make breakfast for me and accompany me to the bus-stop for the first day of my course:

I got very excited on the bus into town because I discovered that Edinburgh buses offer free wi-fi to their passengers! This may not seem particularly exciting to some of you readers, but for me, living in Kampala, it seemed like an ultra-modern perk! In Kampala, it's always a bonus to actually arrive safely at our destination on the local motorbikes or mini-bus taxis, let alone have the comfort of wi-fi !!

The bus carried me through the streets of Edinburgh, with plenty of time to admire the Autumn vistas afforded by my front seat on the top deck of the bus:

 

Since returning home to Kampala, I have been able to fully complete my TEFL requirements. Two weeks ago I officially received my certificate! Horray! 

Each Tuesday, I now volunteer at a local education centre for refugees where I teach English to students who come from several African countries. It is wonderful to have interaction with these willing learners and to be able to put into practise what I have recently learnt on my course. I am still learning how to effectively teach English, but with each lesson I teach comes more awareness- and I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge!

Fun on the School Run

Each weekday, Esther, Ben and Joel climb into a car for a 20 minute drive across Kampala to their school.

What should be a simple drive across town is never simple here. In fact, driving across Kampala is never boring!

We have unforeseen delays, bizarre encounters and plenty of interesting sights to make the school run a fascinating trip!

Here are some photos of what has come across our path on some of our school runs. Enjoy the experience from the comfort of your armchair! Imagine some of the sights, sounds and decision-making challenges which are part of a daily drive in this developing city of East Africa!

It is not uncommon to see trucks loaded to the brim as I drive along the narrow, hilly roads of the city. The truck in the photo below was full of matoke (savoury bananas) with the added bonus of a matoke-seller sitting on top of his wares!

Getting stuck behind a truck like this can mean a frustrating delay, since they trundle laboriously uphill.

The temptation to overtake conflicts with the very real knowledge that over-taking uphill, with limited visibility, could be disastrous, as mini-bus taxis and motorbikes have a nasty habit of zooming into our path without warning. I don't want any collisions- so I often hold back and end up driving far slower than I would like, where others might be bolder and get ahead!

Here's another example- but this time it is mattresses loading the lorry right up to the hilt:

The sights we see make me smile sometimes. I know in the UK we joke about people going on holiday with "everything but the kitchen sink". Well, in Kampala, you can take the kitchen sink too!

All you need is a friend with a motorbike- and you can transport that legendary kitchen sink wherever you would like it to go!

Just to illustrate the point, I even saw ANOTHER kitchen sink zipping past me on the back of a "boda" motorbike this week!

On a different occasion, a motorbike carrying a broken motorbike pulled up next to me in a traffic jam!

Driving to school last week, Ben calmly pointed out that the cyclist travelling along beside us had strapped his gun onto his back so that he could steer his bike more easily.
Now this is not something I would expect my children to point out if we were driving along the route to school in England!
I passed my phone to Ben to snap a shot:

Another morning, a table drifted past us, held on by the passenger on the back of the bike!

Sometimes it is animals who block our way. 

We don't have any zebra-crossings in Kampala (not that I've noticed so far!) but there is an unspoken understanding that cows have right of way. Cows are such a precious commodity here and it would mean Trouble, with that capital T, to hit one- so we always stop to let cows saunter across the street:

Cows aren't the only animals we encounter on the Kampala roads. There are often goats who get in the way as we drive.
But some goats are luckier than others- instead of hanging about on the muddy streets, some goats get to ride in style across town! Esther grabbed my phone to get this photo of a goat on a motorbike a couple of weeks ago:

Some mornings, we have delays caused by the terrible road surfaces. Last Friday, I came down one bumpy, single-lane track to discover a vehicle stuck right in my way- with no way around for me to continue the route to school.

No amount of pushing or shoving would shift that car!

My passengers alighted and tried to assist by placing rocks under the back wheel to stop the car slipping on the mud.

But all attempts were futile. Time was racing and I needed to get 5 pupils to school as soon as possible.
The road was too narrow for me to turn around- so I decided to make a detour into the nearby field. Then I thought I would be able to back-track up the hill and take an alternative route to school.

The children got out of the car and watched as I turned- but then I realised that the pot-hole leading back up to the muddy track was at a terribly steep angle. I was worried that the car might rock to the point of tipping over!
Maybe I was being melodramatic, but I definitely lacked the confidence to manoeuver our huge vehicle back into the correct position for continuing our journey to school.

In a flash of inspiration, I called one of the MAF pilots who lived close to where I was stuck and asked him to come and move the car for me! At this point in the morning, Andrew was already too far away for me to call on him. Thankfully, the other MAF pilot could make it to us easily- and came to rescue us while I took photos from a safer vantage point- OUT of the car!

As irony would have it, just as we got back on track to return the way we had come from, the stuck car was finally moved!!!! With a little bit of patience, I could have continued on my way without all the drama- but things just weren't working out smoothly on that Friday!

We drove a different way and of course, I was then running late. I was keen to get going as quickly as possible.... BUT then I encountered a huge grader machine on the other muddy track that leads to school! The driver seemed determined to block the road and to lumber along as slowly as he could... ARGH!!! What a frustrating drive to school!

Here's another example of some of the interesting road surfaces we contend with, depending on which way we choose to drive as we pick up or drop off other MAF kids on our school route:

And when it rains, like it did last week, even the tarred roads become unrecognisable. They are transformed into slippery pools of mud, spreading out like lakes of liquid chocolate:

With all of these challenges, I shouldn't be surprised when our car breaks down. 

The wear and tear on our fabulous, fearless car gradually takes its toll. Scenes like the one pictured below, on the side of the road, have sadly been my experience a few times in Kampala already.

This break-down happened on a hill about 1 km from home and the mechanic had quite a job to identify the problem before our car could be towed back home...

Once parked back in our driveway, some very curious and excited boys had fun investigating the problem and examining the workings of the engine:

Finally, I sometimes have the world-wide, generic problem of getting stuck behind a learner car, forcing us all to slow down. 

However, I had to laugh at the slogan on this learner's vehicle:

 "Divine Brother, Defensive Driving School". 

What a great catchphrase! Firstly, because we all need Divine help to stay safe while driving and secondly, because it is VERY wise to learn to drive defensively - especially within the context of some of our Kampala challenges :-)