Uganda 1

Here beginneth the saga of our 6 weeks’ stay in Uganda! After a wonderful weekend with our daughter, Becca, in Rwanda, we were driven to the border, where we met the driver for CHIFCOD, the organization that we are now working with. The border comprises 2 small buildings, one on each side of a short no-man’s-land between the two countries and immigration consists of filling out a short exit form on one side, walking across with the bags and filling in a short entry form on the other. Crossing the border also involves changing the time by an hour and adjusting to driving on the opposite side of the road, a clear reflection of the two countries' colonial past. We were the only mazungus (white people) in sight, and so felt somewhat of a spectacle as we dragged our luggage along, hats on heads and clutching our passports, as others strolled across the border with a small bag, a baby tied on the back or a basket on the head.

Nicholas, our driver, took us first to an Agricultural College, where Paul was to meet with the Director to talk about potential grants for the local college. After 1 1/2 hours of waiting, we had a brief meeting and then continued on our way - an extraordinary journey. For those who have a map handy, we crossed the border at Gatuna (Katuna), drove to Kabale and then set off northwards towards the District of Kanungu. In case you can’t find it on google maps, it’s somewhere between Kabale and the Queen Elizabeth National Park, in the extreme southwest of Uganda - despite the hours of travel, we think we are only about 50 miles from Rwanda and 10 miles from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the crow (of the crested crane) flies. Unlike the Africa so often pictured in geography books - desert, jungle or the open grasslands of the Serengeti - here we are in a very different environment. As we left Kabale, we found ourselves climbing up steep mountains and for an hour and a half on unpaved roads, our vehicle clattering over rocky terrain, gullies gouged by the rains and spine-jarring corrugated road of hardened murram, the red clay earth of which this terrain is comprised. Passing small houses and terraced cultivation we then entered an area of pine woods and it felt as though we might have ended up in the Alps by mistake. Twisting and turning up and down around hairpin bends, we eventually came to an open area, way up in the mountains, where the sign welcomed us to the District of Kanungu.

This is our first morning, so these are very preliminary impressions, but Kanungu is a small town, consisting of a few small shops , with houses dotted around on the hillsides. Many of the houses are surrounded by a small amount of land, on which banana trees and other crops are growing. From where we sit we have a 360 degree view of the surrounding hills in the foreground and then of further ridges in the background - it is stunningly beautiful and feels a million miles from everywhere.

To our great god fortune, we are staying at the house of the Rev. Canon Hamlet Mbabaze, the local Anglican canon and the founder and Director of CHIFCOD. He lives in a beautiful home, high on a hill with panoramic views. We have a nice bedroom and our own bathroom facilities, including a shower, so we feel well catered for.

Hamlet himself is often away from the area and, as it happened, we were only able to spend one evening with him and his wife, as they left this morning for a conference in England. We were left with few, if any instructions about the place, except that 2 or 3 young people live in the same house and we will be in loco parentis while Hamlet is away! This was said tongue-in-cheek and it will certainly be the young people who will have to initiate us in the ways of the house and area.

At 9 o’clock last night, after our border crossing, our meeting, our bone-rattling drive, and a small supper, we had a meeting with a few local leaders to discuss what we might do while we are here. Those conversations have continued this morning and I am guessing that it will take us both a few days to really focus in on the best ways we can help them.... more of that as it evolves.

Until our next blog, greetings and peace to all,

Jess and Paul