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.