All is warm in Masindi
on Um Zayd wa Atheer (Uganda), 11/Apr/2009 16:33, 34 days ago
My return to Masindi has co-incided with the rainy season after several months of burning heat. Everyone is happy and they are now busy digging, planting and weeding. The coats and hats have come out too. Clouds make Ugandans feel cold irrespective of what the thermometer says. Of course, for me it is still hot and I remain jacket free. There is enough blue sky to dress an entire navy.I have been back in Masindi for 1 week and all is OK. I had a very warm welcome back from VSO in Kampala, from fellow volunteers and from colleagues and volunteers from the Miirya Project. A few people hadn't noticed that I have been away. Is that a compliment or not?Of course, there are teething problems, like not having a house to live in. The house I left is still vacant but that is too big a challenge to take on again. Godfrey is still there and now has a motorkar!! I think in the UK he would be called a wideboy but without the charm of Del Boy. This one would kill even with his bow and arrow. At the moment I am in a 'hotel'. That makes it sound rather too grand but it does have a lovely garden. You can't have everything. There maybe a house at the end of the month. Sadly another volunteer who has been in Masindi for 3 months has decided that the challenges are too great and is leaving. The house I am likely to get is BASIC, suitable for a single person and not suitable for dinner parties. I think this one has PAMELA written on it. It does have 2 bedrooms and you are welcome to come and share the African experience.I have settled nicely back into the routine with a week of Community Outreach which I love. Hundresds of babies have been weighed, monitored and immunised. Stories have been told. The choice baby names this week have been Bile, Clever and Problem. Somehow I don't think they will be catching on in Upton. A baby born tomorrow, Easter Sunday, might be called Sunday or Paska. I know which one I would choose.I will be catching up with the Miirya Project next week. Bush telegraph and radio announcements are inviting all 97 village volunteers to meetings. I will tell them about fundraising in the UK. I will tell them people care. They will be happy and I will be proud. Early net sales are already indicating fewer cases of malaria. And so I feel warmth to you all. Efforts to help me raise money will change the lives of so many people in Miirya Sub County. Thank you !!I'm off to Kampala in 10 days time for further motorcycle training and a TEST. I need that bike so much but are the pot holes on the marram (dirt) roads too big? It is scary. The helmet will be well used.