Uganda
Wakiso

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    • Day 14

      Watoto

      October 29, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      After the traffic of last night we apprehensively left the guest house at 9,15 expecting the worse. However traffic was not too bad (compared with the previous day!). Our first appointment was an orientation session at the Watoto downtown church. Here they also run a project where abandoned women can make a living by sewing. The church was once a cinema but during the time of Idi Amin it was used as a torture chamber, however during the subsequent war the founder of Watoto, Gary Skinner, saw it and saw its potential... Watoto is church based and currently helps abandoned women and orphaned children, although its focus is shifting toward the former as thankfully there are less orphaned children nowadays.

      Once we had finished down town we went to the Bbira Children’s village. The village is beautifully kept and on site is a school, church and accommodation where around 8 children live with a ‘mother’. The village also has a medical centre (where Zach will be spending much of his time for the next 2 weeks) and also provides vocational training such as dress making, hairdressing and trades.

      Once we had finished our time at Bbira we went downtown, where we put our bartering skills into practice at the craft market. On our drive back we appreciated the Kampala traffic before getting back to the guest house to play some garden cricket! Dinner and then bed!
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    • Day 7

      African timing!

      November 10, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      After going to Watoto Downtown last night I didn't need to go this morning as it's the same service. So I decided to go to Judith's church which starts at around 11:30. So Judith said meet her at 11:15 so we can drive the 2 minutes it takes to get there! I get there on time, as usual 😉, and she said she'd be ready in 5 minutes, so we left at 11:45! Once we get there I realise I'm not the only Mzungu at the service as there 2 Americans preaching and visiting that day. We were singing for a while and then the Pastor invites one of the Americans up to speak. He starts his sermon and then asks if anyone has anything encouraging for the pastor and his wife, to this call around 8 people all stand up and queue up to say something! The first guy spoke for about 10/15 minutes, really setting the tone for how long everyone else spent, even giving them a 30 second limit they still all spoke for nearly 5 minutes! Everytime 1 person finished and sat down another one would stand up and join the back, so it wasn't going to end very quickly! In the end it took up all the time for the talk, so he didn't give it! But it was obvious to see how much the Pastor's family put into the church and the congregation, I think it was a much needed encouragement for them both. Judith drove me back to the guest house and I had some lunch on my own.

      Felisha got back just as I was finishing lunch and we decided to go for a walk to the supermarket to buy a couple of things. We then came back, dropped the things off and went for an explore of the area. Walking towards the church and then just walking down roads we thought looked fun! We saw some children filling up 20 litre containers with water and carrying them on their head, so Felisha asked if she can try, I think it was a lot heavier than it looked, but she did manage to carry it to their house, making it look slightly more difficult than the 8 year old was! We carried on our walk and maybe get slightly lost when we were on our way back, but we did make it in the end, just in time for the evening service at the church opposite the guest house, where we had to introduce ourselves just as we were about to leave. Back for dinner and chatting with everyone. Finally off to bed to rest for the week at Bbira.
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    • Day 10

      Thank you Dr. Zach

      November 13, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      I got called Dr Zach today by a child!

      I missed his vein for the cannula so the nurse had to do it again and then when I gave the medication he started feeling a bit sick, but he still said 'thank you Dr Zach'!

      Other than that I sat in the pharmacy for the rest of the day. We had a Bible study at lunch time, discussing the light topic of 'does science contradict faith?' Which was some good easy conversation over rice and beans! It was good though, lots of different opinions, even if most of the time I couldn't understand them because they were speaking at the same time!

      I went back to the guest house, did some squats, taste tested protein bars and then went to dinner.
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    • Day 6

      My God in the mosque

      November 9, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      Today was my 'day off' so I was keen to see some of Kampala. I had the morning at the guest house just reading and relaxing before Aggrey picked me up at around 12:30. We drove to the national mosque which is the second largest mosque in Africa. I was given a kind of tunic to wear for the tour. Aggrey waited in the car while I was shown around by a tour guide, she took me into the main mosque, but first removing my shoes, and explained the history of it being built, originally started by Idi Amin and then knocked down and completely built by Gaddafi, opening in 2008. The mosque itself is very beautiful, with the materials coming from all over the world- carpet from Libya, windows and doors from Italy- it has stain glass windows and a huge chandelier in the middle. She shows me the Quran and tells me the story of how it was written, to which I politely nod along. She told me to walk up to the balcony where the women are allowed to pray, while she waited down the stairs to collect our shoes. We then walked to the minaret, and she I climbed to the very top alone, while she waited at the bottom! I'm not usually scared of heights but this was a bit different, the concrete steps were slightly uneven and my tunic meant that I couldn't step as I usually would. I prayed the whole way up (hence the title!), so God definitely got me to the top. Once I reached the top the view of Kampala was incredible, looking down at all the busyness of the city. After I reached the top a man and his son joined me, but he spoke very limited English and didn't understand any of my questions so just told me how great Kampala is! The way down was still pretty scary so I prayed the whole way down too! I reached the bottom of the 50m tall minaret and greeted by my tour guide asking about the Queen and thinking the Queen's great great great great grandson, or something like that! She takes me back to Aggrey, and on the way people are greeting me in Arabic, there were lots of people visiting as it was Muhammad's birthday.

      We then went to lunch and I then had a hair cut at the salon. They thought my hair was very soft and even washed it for me after, which they don’t do for me at home! Then a quick stop at the craft market again and then to church for the Saturday evening service at Downtown. Which was of course loud and full of dancing. Then back to the guest house and met the new girl who is staying there from Japan.

      Quite a busy day!
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    • Day 8

      Monday and Tuesday at Bbira

      November 11, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      This week I'm at the medical centre and the other village, Bbira. I spoke to the doctor and he said that I'd be doing the same kind of thing, so I was sat in the pharmacy for the day. The pharmacy here is in the middle of both schools so children point and laugh and then shout Mzungu whenever they see me through the window! It's much smaller and more organised here also, and the team are very nice and have helped me give the right medicines. They've also been very interested about the UK and especially medical school there, to which I reply "it's really hard to get in to!"

      Monday, we decided to do a workout which I'm still hurting from and it was also Judith's birthday and her husband had planned for all of us and the staff at the guest house to surprise her which was really nice. She definitely didn't expect it and she loved it. We had some cake and danced a bit. She gave a speech, calling us ‘the best guests ever’ which I can't deny, we're pretty great!

      On Tuesday the weather wasn't very good, I've never seen so much rain fall in 5 minutes! It flooded the ground outside in minutes. This means no one comes to the clinic unless it's really urgent, so most of the time, while it was raining, was spent chatting about the UK, playing tetris and reading. Then back to the guest house, now there's only me and Felisha again as Aya has gone to Gulu.

      Another good couple of days.

      'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. (‭Zechariah‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ NIV)
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    • Day 2

      Kampala

      July 6, 2017 in Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      We drove from Jinga to Kampala, starting on mud roads before we reached the main road. Enjoyed passing the villages before we went around the capital of Uganda, stopping at a massive local market which we loved. There were lots of lovely looking veg, not so nice looking offal, clothes... Stayed at a campsite just outside the city near the lake and had a relaxing couple of hours by the pool, after trying to clean off some of the mud our tent got covered in.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Wakiso

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