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on Um Zayd wa Atheer (Uganda), 14/Jan/2009 11:14, 34 days ago
A DisturbanceIncredibly I have now been back in the UK for 4 weeks. It has been a busy time and I have been 'disturbed'. Ugandan spoken English, at least in Masindi, has some quaint peculiarities. Immediately becomes 'now now', move along becomes 'extend' or 'stretch' and sachets become 'sackettes' as in baguettes. They like the word 'disturbed' a lot. Men disturb women, children disturb adults and the weather disturbs everybody. Are you getting the picture that it covers a variety of upsets with varying ferocity?I haven't been disturbed by English winter weather. No heat waves, no mosquitoes, and sand free air to breathe. Instead some crisp sunny days and probably the most beautiful hoar frost I have ever seen. Every leaf of every plant and every twig on every branch outlined in sparkling white glitter, not plastic or glass but the real thing. I wasn't too disturbed by Christmas. Ignoring the excesses, there were visits to churches bedecked with holly and magical lights, once with Atheer's bass singing along side me. That was a treat.I have been disturbed by the bigger contrasts between rural Africa and Western Europe. Some people call it reverse culture shock. Call it what you will, it is truly shocking but not in a disapproving sense. We just have too much of everything, food, entertainment, clothes and choices. How much do we really need? I no longer shop for a family and so have avoided big supermarkets for a long time. Now I feel I can never go into one ever again. Today I've travelled from Rugby to Oxford by train and I was fascinated by all the technology, on and off the train. Around me fellow passengers were on laptops, Blackberries, iPods and MP3s. How did Masindi get left so far behind? Have we gone too far? It is all very disturbing.I haven't been just thinking. I have been busy doing too. Masindi, its people and its problems are never far from my mind. The fund raising for mosquito nets remains a priority. I'm contacting lots of people, organisations and even Gordon. As I'm set to return to Masindi for a Short Term Placement, I'm hoping to do motorcycle training. It is the only way I can get out into those villages. I'm going to do Basic Training, the Theory Test and the full Road Test. Of course, it's a challenge but no bigger than those already faced.