The List

|0 comments

My mum was very clever and booked me in for a full body tropical medical examination for tomorrow. I thought it would be best to write a list of all my ailments over the past 8 months, just in case I miss one out. 

Here goes:

January - Malaria (two times), Bacterial Chest Infection and Dysentery
February - Food Poisoning
March - Bicycle Crash
April - Scolding of feet (caused by spilling a LARGE pan of boiling water on my feet)
May - Conjunctivitis, Eye Infections and suspected Giardia
June - Multiple Abscesses (staphylococcus infections)
July - More staphylococcus infections causing MASSIVE swollen face
August - Malaria and General Insanity
                                                                                                                   My Beautiful Foot

If I have any new ones to add to list tomorrow, I'll keep you updated!

Well...there was a Masai involved

|0 comments

At the start of August I found myself stranded in Kampala. I spent most of my nights in a reggae bar making fun beats with mad Ugandan musicians. Sleepless nights didn't stop me from spending full days inside the British Embassy organising my passport. A beautiful yellow emergency passport was finally placed in my hands on the 8th of August. A moment that initiated the immediate purchase of a bus ticket to Mombasa.

 Final days in Kampala!! Cathal giving us all goodbye presents.

By 8:00am on the 10th of August I caught up with Emily, Anna and Christy who had already reached Diani beach on the Kenyan coast. We spent our days....playing chess! It rained for four days straight. Dining in a restaurant that was inside a cave made the visit all worthwhile.

Another bus journey brought us to Dar Es Salaam. My only memory of Dar Es Salaam is a 5 star hotel. We pretended to be residents and spent our time dancing around the ball room, getting pedicures and drinking red wine. A very surreal luxury!!

Zanzibar, oh how to describe Zanzibar. Pretty much JUST what I needed after seven months of borderline torture. I lay on pristine beaches for hours on end.....mostly wondering why on earth I didn't volunteer in paradise Zanzibar for the past 7 months!!!

My final night in Zanzibar (and with my friends) was spent with several mad Masai Mara. They were the most un-Masai Masai I have EVER encountered. One of them was an alcoholic, smoker and secretly loved touching fish (being in contact with fish in HIGHLY illegal in the Masai world). A crazy night that will never leave my memories. At 2:00am in the morning I decided it was time to have my final Indian ocean dive.

Zanzibar, you will be missed. 

 Sunrise, Jambiani - Zanzibar

 Jambiani Beach - Zanzibar

 Slave statue, Stone Town - Zanzibar

 Partying with Masai

Dancing with 'Simon' the most un-Masai Masai

 Simon - the most un-Masai Masai

Zanzibar did not prepare me for my 30 hour bus journey back to Kampala! I was privileged enough to be given the back corner seat. My head was whacked against the ceiling on multiple occasions. Eventually I made it back to Kampala in one piece. On the 26th of August I was brought to Entebbe airport keeling off the back of a motorbike with my massive backpack. Three flights (including a 6 hour stop over at Heathrow airport) eventually brought me home. I nearly fell flat on my face when I stood on an escalator for the first time in 8 months!

So my blog has finally come to an end! However, I'd like to warn you that you may still be bugged by 'UGANDA UPADATEEEEEEEE' e-mails over the next few weeks. I'm hoping to upload some memories (more photos and drawings/poems from my pupils etc) and a link to an official photography website I will be setting up!

Thank you for following my blog!!!

Broke, unidentified and homeless....and LOVING every moment!

|1 comments

I am currently all of the above.

So I ask myself a few questions.....

Where did all my money go?

Well, for a start.....cinnamon Rolls at 'Ozzies', beeeeeeeeeeeeeeer, FAR too many unnecessary motorbike rides, gifts that I can't afford, a thesis of medical bills, dreadlocks (and 9 combs to help me comb them out!!!???), wolf-pack memorabilia, an orange helmet, a memory stick that doesn't work, bribing swimming pool attendants...at 5 in the morning, flinging myself off a pylon and falling 40 meters to the ground and......a blow up Batman for Cathal.

ALL fantastic and crucial buys....shame it added up so fast.

Where did my identity go?

Missing passport has resulted in me being a abandoned stranded sole in Kampala. At the present moment I may never leave Uganda.

Progress so far has included a mad Swedish man named Ellert, bribes and several fat police men. It has all been rather exciting!

Homeless

SOAS sent me a lovely e-mail this morning telling me I don't have any accommodation for next year.

If you live in London BEWARE....you may find me on your doorstep come the 27th of September.

The End!

|0 comments

Rambling about work isn't the most exciting thing in the world. If you want to hear about my BEST month yet, have peak at my photos (and captions) or wait for me to return (3 weeks!) I'm always up for a heated 'Development....and why it's all wrong and a tiny bit awesome' talk!!!!

Conducting a Debate with our AIDS ACTION CLUB at Kigandalo Secondary

This debate was on a Gender topic 'Men are more responsible than women'. Debates like this are always fab as Ugandan perspectives on men/women are SO different from people in the Western world. Every-time I mention I used to be in football team I am left with a classroom in hysterical fit.

Our 'Demonstration Festival'

One of the biggest events we held this month was a 'Demonstration Festival'. It was an opportunity for the community members we've worked with to exhibit their work. The day was full of modern agriculture technique demonstrations, poems on domestic abuse, songs about HIV prevention, dramas relating to teenage pregnancy, dances from the advocacy campaign 'Dance 4 Life' and many many goodbye speeches. Over 300 people attended. MAD MAD hectic day but sooooo worthwhile.

Good times with my neighbours! The house has NEVER been quiet over the past month.

Dancing to Indian music, some of my best nights!

After 'Demonstration Festival' with our Secondary pupils. Samuel on the left, Timo in the middle and Rose on the right. This was taken just before we watched a musical film, dubbed in Lusoga about Apartheid in South Africa. It couldn't have been any worse! I sat in the pits of extreme uncomfortableness (if that a word?) for a good 2 hours. I'm happy to say the generator died and my torture finally came to an end! 

Session on HIV transmission with out of school youth. I have started a list of 'Odd Questions', its unbelievable what sort of rumours relating to sexual health pass through the community. One man was CONVINCED that you could get HIV from a spoon.

 Referring a pupil to one of the nurses I work with, 'Juliet'. This is the lab where they do the HIV testing and all the rest of the confusing technical stuff.

 

 

 Final night with SPW (now 'Restless Development'). Anna and myself in all our glamour.

Leaving the village was beyond odd. In a way it was REALLY sad, I was leaving my home and friends. On the other hand, I was SO happy that I'd got through the hardest 6 months of my life and I still had a smile on my face. A very bitter sweet motorbike ride back to civilisation.

The whole volunteering experience ended with a 'Debrief' workshop in Jinja. A very enjoyable few days. We got to give feedback on all the nitty gritty, especially relating to our work in the field. 'SPW' (now 'Restless Development') is having a MASSIVE strategic review over the next few years. It's exciting to contribute and be part of the positive changes within the organisation.

Check out some of the new changes and 'rebrand':

www.restlessdevelopment.org

So from now on it's all travels!!!! I'm afraid it might just be a little bit too mad and fun....I might just never leave.