In my last post I said 'next stop Mbarara', but that's not strictly true. On the way from Kagando to Mbarara, we actually stopped several times. The first of these was only a short distance from Kagando, when we crossed the Equator. On this particular road there is not much to see, but we stopped for the obligatory photo opportunity.

If you are confused by the letters IG N A, the I is actually half a U and there is an A and a D missing. I leave you to work that out.

Crossing the Equator also meant that we had entered the Rift Valley, with wide open country on either side of the road, now a National Game Park. Just down the road a few miles, we stopped again as we encountered our first 'game'. We made a couple of more stops for photos as waterbuck and buffalo were grazing just a few yards away from us.

As we reached the far side of the Valley, we began to climb the Bunyeni Escarpment and at the top stopped at a hotel for a drink. The views back down across the Valley were absolutely stunning; the photos really can't do them justice. Sadly, it was the heat of the day when wildlife tends to gather round water holes and out of the sun, so we were unable to see any of the several hundred elephants which live in the Park. Another time, perhaps!

Our next stop was in Ishaka, where a new hospital has been built, paid for by a local business man who made his money (we think) in Saudi Arabia. It is part of Kampala International University. Many of the teaching staff are from Nigeria and students from Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Pakistan. You can probably guess at the strong Islamic influence, but there is a small Christian presence and we bumped into a Christian student from Mbarara, who is studying there.

Finally, we made it to Mbarara where I was to stay for the next week, with Seb Allwright in his first floor apartment. His neighbours on the first floor are Muslims; downstairs is occupied by the owner, but he's no often there. Note the steel gate at the entrance and metal grill over the windows and doors. Many similar properties have guards, who live in the grounds, and dogs. The latter were often heard barking back and forth to each other at all hours of the night. On one night, amidst all the barking, I heard a deep growling that sounded distinctly un-dog like, but maybe it was just my over-active imagination!

The dirt road outside Seb's apartment

 My room

Living room

It's been longer than I'd hoped for before posting more news of my trip, but here goes.

My next photo is of Keith and Margaret Ferdinando, who I met at the conference. They are a remarkable couple who have recently returned to D R Congo for a third period of service. Twice before they have been evacuated because of fighting. They fled leaving everything they owned behind, but still they go back. Keith is helping to set up a doctoral level teaching programme in theology at Shalom University in Bunia. The programme will help to train future teachers and theological trainers for the church in  DR Congo, so that pastors and preachers will be well-grounded in Scripture.

During the conference, Steve Lancaster, the main speaker and Area Mobiliser for the South of England and Wales, introduced me to the joys of riding on the back of a boda boda - a motor bike taxi. This is just one of the taxi drivers whose services we engaged. His name is Peter. When I told him that my daughter was married to a Peter, he was so delighted he turned round to shake my hand while still riding. Slightly unnerving!

Steve and I also got to visit the source of the Nile, which emerges from Lake Victoria and begins a 4,000 mile journey to the Mediterranean Sea that takes three months to complete.
After our short boat trip to the actual source and the obligatory photos, we sheltered from the rain and were challenged to games of pool by some of the locals. Steve won 1 and lost won 1; I just lost 1.

With the conference over, I left Jinja in the company of Zillah and two other people engaged in AIM's medical work, Geoff, who lives and works in Kenya, and 'Fiona' (not her real name), who works in a 'Creative Access Nation' i.e. I can't tell you where for security reasons and no photos. We had an eight-hour drive in Zillah's 4x4 from Jinja, skirting the north edge of Kampala, to Kagando Hospital in the west of Uganda and about 30km from the  DR Congo border. Most of the way was on some of Uganda's better roads - tarmac - but the last mile or so was on dirt roads with deep ruts, hence the 4x4.

The hospital was founded by AIM missionaries back in the 60s, but is now run by the African Inland Church (AIC). From very humble beginnings, it now has a nursing and midwifery training school that trains around 200 nurses every year. Some go on to work in the hospital but many provided basic medical care in rural clinics in the villages and small towns throughout Uganda. Kagando itself is such a village, nestling in the foothills of Africa's highest mountain range, the Rwenzori Mountains. Several peaks are over 16,000 feet, but sadly we never saw them, as they are usually surrounded by mist and low cloud. 'Fiona' lived in Kagando for seven years and never saw the tops.

It's a beautiful location, but in an area where there is very obvious poverty, most people living from subsistence farming.

The original hospital building with the current nursing training school top left.

One of the wards

The cooking area where relatives prepare food for patients

View of the mountain foothills from the hospital site

The guest house where we stayed. Note the outside washbasin. The shower (cold) and toilet are in the building on the right.

One of the more basic local houses. Most were better than this.

While the medics were engaged in meetings, I took the opportunity to wander into the village and accidentally stumbled across the local primary school.It's now named after 'Dr Keith', one of the AIM missionaries who helped start the hospital and provided the land for the school. He's something of a local hero, but very embarrassed about it. The school Director used to work with Dr Keith in the hospital and insisted on giving me the full guided tour. The bricks you can see stacked in the classroom have been made by the school to build a classroom for the class that currently meets under a tree.

Science class learning how to prevent kwoshiorkor, a form of malnutrition

The school aims.

All for now. Next stop, Mbarara.

Time to start introducing a few people I met on my travels, accompanied by some of the photos I took. Some people have already seen a sneak preview of Jared on my Facebook page, but for the benefit of the rest of you here he is again. Jared is just one of the gorgeous young children Steve Lancaster and I met when we visited the Good Shepherd Fold (GSF) orphanage near Jinja. We had a lot of fun playing with Jared and his friends and we think they enjoyed it, too, judging by the smiles and laughter. They were certainly reluctant to let us go.


By the way, the building in the background of the photo of Steve and the kids houses some of the latrines! You could find them with your eyes closed, if you know what I mean.


It was a delight to meet Katie and see the place where she and others are trying to bring the love of God into the lives of some very damaged children. One little girl we met was there not because she is an actual orphan but because she had been raped by her father and had been placed at GSF for safety by social workers. She can remain until she is 17, but legally she must then be returned to her family. 

The young lady behind Katie is Sarah, an American girl who has been on a short-term assignment and was about to return home.

The next photo is of the AIM mission partners from Europe who work in the Central Region of Africa. It was great to actually meet people whose faces were familiar from our prayer diary and who we pray for regularly in the Nottingham office. There are a few faces missing because not everyone was able to make it to the conference.

All for now, but keep visiting as there will be lots more to see and read over the next few days.

Quick post to say that I am back home safely. The return journey was largely uneventful, thankfully. 50 minutes late leaving Entebbe but that just meant a shorter wait in Nairobi. It was slightly surreal to visit the same transfer desk as on my previous visit to find everything calm and orderly. There were clearly marked lines for queuing, three people staffing the computer terminals - and only six passengers waiting! It also turned out to be completely unnecessary for me even to visit on this occasion.


After that things ran pretty smoothly and I arrived home at 11.30 a.m. UK time or 1.30 p.m. Uganda time. Just one hiccup - I left my mobile phone on the train. I blame lack of sleep. Off to catch up on that after lunch.


More later.

Monday was a quiet day. After doing some washing, I wandered into town to change more money. Here's a tip for anyone planning to come to Uganda - take large denomination US dollars; the exchange rate for anything under $50 is lower. Mine were all lower, but I managed to get a slightly better rate than the published one. My bargaining skills must be improving. Two young Americans on a mission trip were behind me in the queue and only got the published rate.


I took the chance to look around the town centre and take more photos. With a little help from one of the locals, I also managed to find a Ugandan football shirt! Everyone I've met has been friendly and helpful.


I spent the afternoon enjoying a longer time of Bible reading and prayer. With all the travelling, it has actually been difficult to find long times for these things, so it was great to have this chance to reflect on my experiences and pray for the people and situations I've met, and also for you back home. I also started reading a book which has been much talked about among the mission partners. It's entitled 'When Helping Hurts' and is about how a lot of what we do as Western Christians in developing countries can actually be counter-productive. I'm looking forward to getting a copy and finishing it when I return.


The washing was soon dry, so I did most of my packing ready to leave in the morning. In the evening Zillah came round with a wonderful chicken casserole she'd made. She was accompanied by Grace Aldis, an occupational therapist and ex-Relay worker, who is a friend of Zillah's. She's come out for a month during her holidays to help in the hospital.


Early night as I still wasn't feeling great and we had an early start again in the morning.


The day began with a Bible study at 7.30a.m. for a group of guys all doing mission work. Most are Americans, but there was one Brazilian guy who is working with AIM in a Creative Access Nation, which means I can't tell you where for security reasons! He's in Mbarara for a couple of weeks to visit his girlfriend, Martha, who he met at their Africa-based Orientation Conference last October. The study was just ending when Zillah and Grace arrived to drive me the short distance into town to get the Post Bus to Kampala.


The bus arrived just before 10.00a.m. and we were soon underway. The bus was quite hot and stuffy, but reasonably comfortable and at least everyone had a seat to themselves this time. The guy next to me turned out to be another Man Utd fan - my shirt was doing its usual trick of acting as a conversation starter. We chatted on and off between periods when we both dozed off.
I discovered his name is Grace (yes, Grace is a popular name for guys in Uganda and why not?) and that he lives and works as a prison officer in Jinja, but his traditional home is in Kabale. He was very interested in life in the UK and wants to come to work there. Whether he'll ever be able to afford the fare I don't know.


It's not all too expensive in Uganda. I found that he can watch English Premier League games at home for a modest monthly subscription or go to halls where they have big screens and watch for about 25p!


Towards the end of the bus ride, I also made a new friend who was about 5 or 6. I didn't discover his name and he was happy just to call me 'mzungu' (white man). You often hear children shouting it whenever they see someone white. He was quite puzzled that I don't have a sister - he has three - but he enjoyed seeing the pictures of my family that I'd brought with me.


The bus trip lasted just over 5 hours, the last hour of which was spent negotiating Kampala's horrendous traffic. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of traffic control. I only saw three sets of traffic lights. One of those was completely burned out and another was being over-ruled by a traffic cop. To my relief, Lawrence Jnr, my taxi driver was patiently waiting. After a brief alarm when my rucksack couldn't be found, it was eventually located amongst sacks of various
produce belonging to other passengers. Then we headed off to Matoke Inn.


Matoke Inn is located in one of Kampala's more affluent districts on a hill overlooking the city. It is a haven of peace for mission partners on their way to and from assignments and for the occasional visitor like me. I was soon shown to my room, where I'm sharing with an American student named Spencer (Californian), who is part of a team here for six weeks to run a sports programme at the SMILE orphanage at Tororo, east of Jinja. They head off tomorrow morning.


After the long bus ride, I was glad of the chance for a walk down to the nearby supermarket and shopping mall just to browse around. It was cool and very quiet, with not many customers, apart from a couple of other 'muzungus'. I suspect that this area is probably popular with ex-pats.


We had a lovely meal of chicken wings, Irish (the Ugandan name for potatoes), pumpkin and salad, with mango to follow; one of the better meals I've had here. In the evening I chatted and played cards with more of the American team - Ryan (leader and short-term co-ordinator in the AIM US office), Rachael (who loaned me her computer to send a couple of emails; I'm using it now), Marshall and Lisa, plus Chelsey who is heading for Bunia in D R Congo on another short-term team. For most of them it is also their first time in Africa.


I had a reasonable night and today has been another quiet day, with slowly improving health, though I'm still quite tired and lacking in energy. I walked, took more photos, read and generally relaxed among the temporary community here. Among them are three families with young children, the youngest only 5 months old, headed to D R Congo and South Sudan. The Congo team left this morning. I continue to be humbled and challenged by the commitment of these young men and women, who are willing to sacrifice a lot to serve God in some pretty tough situations.


Much of this blog so far has been very much focused on me and my travels When I get back I hope to say much more about the people I've met and the impact they have had on me and are having on the situations in which they work.


I now have one more night in Uganda (at least I hope so!) before I leave tomorrow evening for the journey home. This will probably be my last blog on Ugandan soil, but hopefully not the end of my African adventure. Having said that, I can cope with an un-adventurous return flight.


Thank you to those who have prayed faithfully. Please don't stop now. My next post will hopefully be from the familiar surroundings of 4 Oak Road.


God bless

Here we are again. Just realised that I got numbers 1 and 2 the wrong way round in my previous post. 1 was on Thursday and 2 on Wednesday. To continue:


3. Thursday night was party night. It was the birthday of Carolyn, one of the American short-termers on the Mbarara team, so we all met at Seb's for pizzas and silly games. The pizzas were home-made by a Ugandan lady who hopes to start up a pizza business. She should do well - they were excellent. Stephen, another American, here for two years had baked a wonderful chocolate birthday cake and Seb had bought candles that were more like fireworks - we had to take it out on the verandah to light them!


4. Friday morning Stephen picked me up and we spent the morning visiting various small farms/gardens where he is teaching people the principles of Farming God's Way. The first of these was at the Abide house in Mbarara, where Connor is living. This biblically based approach to farming is making a huge difference and all the guys on the Abide programme will take what they have learnt back to their home villages. The second farm is being run by a Ugandan lady and a third one by a Ugandan man. Both are seeing significantly improved crop yields. The final farm is just opposite Seb's house on a very steep slope and rocky soil. The locals laughed when missionaries first bought the land and said they planned to farm it, but they are not laughing now that it is producing good crops.


Stephen took me for lunch at the team's favourite restaurant in town - City Top - where we had some great Indian food. Unfortunately this was to prove my last proper meal for a few days. By the time we got back to the house, I had a stomach upset (nothing to do with the Indian meal) which has proved quite persistent and has now been diagnosed as an ecoli infection.


5. Despite the stomach upset I was able to join Seb for a day's workshop for Chaplains and Patrons of the SU groups in various schools around Mbarara. Around 40 people eventually turned up, including 16 of the pupils who lead their SU groups. We were there before 8.00 a.m. for a 9.00 a.m. start, but it was nearer 10.00 a.m. before we got going and people continued to arrive for most of the morning.


6. Still not feeling great today (Sunday), but managed to go to Eden International School with Seb as planned and preach on the subject of Sexual Purity - a big issue here. I got a spontaneous burst of applause towards the end of my sermon, so something must have struck a chord. Later I visited the Mbarara Hospital again - this time as a patient! I'm now on medication for the ecoli and taking plenty of rehydration drinks.


My health problems have resulted in a slight change to the schedule. I'm staying on here for another day to allow the medication to take effect and travelling to Kampala on Tuesday instead. As Seb, Zillah and I agreed, I'm certainly getting the full African experience in a short time span.


I think that just about brings you up-to-date. Thanks for your prayers. Despite the setbacks, I have felt really supported and cared for. I'm not sure when I will next be able to blog, but I will do so asap.


God bless

Once again apologies for long gap between posts. Communication is proving more tricky than I'd hoped. This is partly because I've been on the move so much, but also lack of access to a computer.


Anyway, here is a quick summary of my travels since I last wrote. The day the conference ended, most people dispersed to their various locations around the Central Region of Africa, but a numbered stayed on for a couple of days of planning and envisioning meetings. I took part  in the first of these on short-term work and was sitting in on a session about medical work when my phone rang! It was Judy and my first conversation with her since leaving home. A nice treat.


I also managed to venture into Jinja on my own to change some money. My boda driver was named Peter and was delighted to discover I had a son-in-law of the same name. In fact, he was so pleased, he took his hand off the handlebars and turned round to shake mine - a bit disconcerting.


The following day we made the long drive in Zillah's car from Jinja to Kagando hospital, near Kasese, and close to the  DR Congo border. Once again we drove through some beautiful green countryside, with a mixture of maize fields, sugar cane and tea plantaions being the dominant features. We stopped in a large town called Fort Portal for lunch at a small restaurant. This was my first real introduction to 'normal' Ugandan food, a bit more basic than what was on offer at the hotel in Jinja. The toilet facilities were also a lot more basic, but still welcome after a long drive.


The roads are also worth mentioning. For the most part, the one from Jinja to Kagando was tarmac, but every time we approached a village or town there were three or four sets of rumble strips at about 30m intervals with a large speed bump in the middle of the village. I can see why all the mission partners have off-road vehicles to drive; a conventional car wouldn't last very long.


As we neared Kagando, it became clearer that the hospital and village nestle in the foothills of the highest mountain range in Africa, with several peaks over 16,000 feet. Sadly, during our brief stay the tops of the mountains were surrounded by mist, which is quite normal. One mission partner who accompanied us lived in Kagando for seven years and never saw the peaks.


The visit to the hospital was itself another eye-opener. It has expanded over the years and now has an excellent modern nurse training facility (around 200 are trained each year), but the hospital is still very basic by UK standards. Patients are usually accompanied by 'attendants', friends or family membrs who look after their feeding, washing etc., and who sleep on the floor on roll-up matresses they have brought. There is also a cooking area where these attendants prepare the food in the traditional village style using wood and charcoal fires.


All three of the mission partners who accompanied me are medics who had come for discussions with hospital staff, so I took the chance to walk into the village on my own. I met two young boys on their way home from school who were eager to show me their work and to tell me that English was their favourite subject. I was wearing my Man Utd football shirt and this proved a helpful conversation starter with various people I passed. Most were pleased to hear that I was actually born in Manchester.


On a similar walk the following morning, I accidentally came across the village primary school. This was started back in the 60s by Dr Keith, who is something of a legend in AIM circles and especially in Kagando. The director of the school insisted on giving me a guided tour of the school, where I was greeted by every class in turn, including the one meeting under a tree because they are due to build a new classroom. The bricks for this have been made by the school staff and were stacked in some of the classrooms.


After lunch we left Kagando for the drive to Mbarara. This has to be the most beautiful scenery yet. After a brief pause for photos on the Equator, we headed across the Rift Valley, most of which is now National Parks, one of which is named after the Queen after she visited some years ago. On our way we stopped for more photos of buffalo and antelope just a few metres from the roadside. We also saw colobus monkeys, but sadly no elephants of which there are several hundred in the area.


As we climbed out of the Rift Valley, we stopped on the ridge for a drink and an opportunity to really take in the stunning views and more photos. We made one more stop at a newly built hospital in Ishaka, which forms part of the Kampala International University (KIU), though it is quite some distance from Kampala itself. As the name suggests, the student population is very international and many of the faculty are from Nigeria. It's nickname is Kenyans In Uganda - but there is a strong Islamic influence. Finally, at around 6.00, we arrived in Mbarara, my home for the next six days.


These days have been filled so far with:
1 A visit to Mbarara hospital where Zillah works in the physio department and is helping to start a new degree course in physio - the first in the country. It's due to start in August, but at the moment the equipment they have consists of a desk and a computer but no chair! Life here is challenging.
2. A trip with Connor Johnston (short-termer) to the Abide house in Kabale, near the Rwandan border. Abide is an eight-month discipleship programme for guys who have just graduated fron high school. They live together as a community and study together from Tuesday to Friday, mainly Bible-related subjects, but also practical courses on computers and agriculture. At the weekends they go as a team to the home village of one of them to engage in evangelism using a model called 'Prayer-Share-Care': they pray with people, share the gospel and carry out practical tasks to help the families. The trip to and from Kabale was yet another new experience. The road was a good deal less well-maintained and our transport going was a car with six seats and up to 11 passengers and coming back a minbus with 14 seats and 21 adults, two babies and a variety of baggage both inside and on top.


Time to stop now because Seb needs his computer. More later.