Day 9: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

Hi, it’s Shaunie. Today I have been giving the responsibility of writing the blog, and I’m following Vicky and Karen so I’m going to try my best to live up.

Today was time for the real hard graft. Everyone came down to breakfast raring to go with gardening gloves and all their gear. We took another ride in our beloved ambulance, who needs to pay for rides at Alton Towers when you can go in that ambulance? At St. Francis we finally met the infamous Faustine, the chief executive of St. Francis, almost everyone remembered the African way to shake with two hands, except Vicky, who in her excitement, got stuck in her Mzungu way and only used one hand. We were grouped into three groups, Rice, Cassava and Matooke, and shipped into more ambulances and driven to our designated gardens. After dropping Sufian’s group at a garden near our guest house, Chloe, Jodie, Jess, Sally and I went on an unplanned tour on the dirt tracks of Jinja trying to find our garden only to arrive there and discover the Matookes had invaded our garden. Sally and Chloe joined the Matooke and Jodie, Jess and I made our way to join the Rice. Arriving at the garden we discovered Sufian had chosen the hard task of clearing a patch of wooden area rather than choosing to prepare the raised beds, is that a guy thing? So we set off and after two hours of hard work we had managed to clear most of the land, though the Jajas (grandmothers) had shown us up by breezing and clearing roughage like it was feathers. At the end of the morning we were all given Ugandan names by the Jajas. Saskia, ironically, was named an axe, Sufian was named Prince, further inflating his ego, but shortly overthrown by Jodie, newly appointed Queen. Nikima was a flower, Jess was a decorative jug, Ben was St. Peter, a phrase to thank god, and I was an ornament given to a bride.


We went back to the Omoana House to play with the children there. Unfortunately, the children were not their usual selves having recently discovered they were ill and this tugged on the heart-strings of numerous people in the group, creating an emotionally charged lunch.


Blog interrupted by Sufian to add this about what we were faced with today:

Before we reached Omoana house: Sally was in tears, it was hard to watch, our eyes filled and lumps in our throats, as we asked Sally what was wrong? She had spent the morning with the Jaja’s and after speaking to several women, she came to realise that every one of them had lost their children to the disease and were now looking after their grandchildren. Sally explained to the rest of us how difficult and unimaginable it is for any mother to lose a child, her voice filled with sorrow and her expressions were just too much to take in.


The afternoon did not get better....


We have come to Omoana house on a daily basis and have thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere in the house. We all struggled to understand and really take in the fact that these children were there for a reason and that reason was the crippling disease which has killed millions in Africa, HIV/Aids. As we left the gardens to go to Omoana house, we were all excited, because playing with the kids is the highlight of our day, the way they warm to us and the smiles on their faces, is perhaps the most rewarding and priceless thing we have come across in life. We knew we had to play less and work more, as we were starting the work on the play ground, which required some real digging.


On arrival, we felt the sombre mood, it was unusual and definitely something we had not really seen before. The children were quiet, they normally run to us and ask if we can teach them to sing, dance, play footie or even have boxing lessons. No one really wanted to ask the children, so Nikima took the initiative and asked the nurse who said that they were poorly.


Mark a young lad, aged around 7, full of life and has a heart melting smile, sat with his head sinking to the ground, his friends Umer and Sir Jim standing beside him, with their hands on his back. As they approached me, I was confused, knowing they were upset, I really was unsure about what I should do or say... should I ask him what is wrong? Or should I ignore it and engage him into a distraction activity? I chose to ask, I was sitting at the door step of the canteen, Vicky was fast asleep in the canteen. When I asked, there was a pause, a silence, I looked at his friends and they looked away, trying to hide their tears, holding Mark close to them. Mark slowly raised his head and said ‘Uncle I have malaria’, my heart sunk, his tears running down his face, showed the pain he was going through, at this stage Vicky was awake, she could hear the crying from both myself and Mark.



I tried to stay calm, I wanted to support him and reassure him, but the look in his eyes told a story, a story which no child should know and have to think about. Malaria is a killer in Africa and those suffering from HIV and Aids have a higher risk and chance of dying as a result of malaria. He cried and cried, saying ‘I don’t want to die, I am scared to die uncle’. I could not stand there and rushed off, as I sat in the garden, trying to compose myself, so I can go back and hug him, tell him he will be OK, I knew that I could not say that because he knew what malaria can do. He came over, the heat of the sun was beating down on me, he stood in front of me, acting as a shade from the sun and asked me to stop crying. I could not believe the strength of this child, as I wiped my tears, he explained to me that his father had died and he was scared of death.



After all this, as you can imagine, lunch was not something I really could think about, but he knew my lunch was being served and asked me to go eat, as I went to eat, he headed towards his room and sat their crying. Vicky, was extremely upset, the emotion in the camp was rock bottom, as water filled eyes looked into their plates of food.


Caeser, the 3 year old little star who has been mentioned in previous blogs, went into the arms of Chloe and began to cry, just when we thought that things could not get more difficult, they just had.


Circle time in the evening, was perhaps the most emotional moment of the trip so far. As every one of us was in tears, from teachers to students, reflecting on the day that just broke our hearts, trying to think about the reality with which these people live, it was upsetting and heart wrenching.


Back to Shaunies blog....


After a release of emotions we prepared ourselves for the garden and began preparing a hedge around the back fence of the house. After placing the hedge seedlings Vicky was given the responsibility of the hose to water the seedlings. On a hot day Vicky’s offer of a ‘splash’ with the hose was too tempting for many to avoid. However, Vicky’s concept of a splash was different to all of ours and many were soaked. At the front of house the wall around the path was painted, this was led by Louise, Jess and Sarah. After various swapping of painters Louise ended up having a competition with a boy from the Shadow Idol club, Ishmael, as to who could paint the fastest and she lost. A worker from the St. Francis helped to dig the sandpit and put us all to shame with his digging skills, because that mud was like cutting though brick, though Nikima gave it a damn good go. Whilst this digging was occurring, Chloe, Saskia, Jodie and Jess collected grass and bricks that were dug up from the pit in a sack and lugged them many metres from the pit to the ever increasing pile of debris.


We were relieved from our work, all with a sense of extreme satisfaction, proud of what we had achieved that day. Back at the hotel we had a much needed circle-time where many of us were able to release our emotions, thoughts and feelings of our experiences that day. With a huge weight off of our chests we were able to get stuck into what are still the best damn roast potatoes ever. After dinner, we had an informal business lesson from Sufian about enterprising ideas that would help the Jajas to sell more of their crafts, which would help them to achieve a comfortable living style that everyone deserves. With numerous ideas under our belts, a full stomach and a hard day’s work most of us were in bed 9pm and asleep by 9.02pm.


So an ambitious plan to get 11 teenagers and Sufian up at 6am for a 7 o’clock breakfast means that at 10pm it is time for bed.

Day 8: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

This is Karen writing today’s blog. Today was a weird day for us. Most Ugandans are very religious and Sunday is their day of rest, so we got Sunday off. We were invited to go to church with John and we all thought it would be like a gospel church, constant singing and dancing and all in English. We couldn’t have been more wrong, it was a traditional Roman Catholic service. To be fair there was a lot more singing though and even dancing, but because the Bishop was there the mass was going to be two hours long, outside in the hot African sun (it was also like the hottest day so far). We held strong for about an hour but after that the Bishop began his sermon which wouldn’t have been so bad if it was in English but interestingly he kept going between Ugandan and English. Soon enough Sufian was nearly snoring and the rest of us were struggling to keep our eyes open, eventually Sally had to pull John aside and in her usual diplomatic tone tell him that we were all suffering. So two by two we all snuck out, we felt awful but it wasn’t even nearly over and there is no way we could have survived it.


After church we walked back to the guesthouse and hung out for hours after lunch playing cards and stuff, to be honest it felt a bit like an uneventful afternoon but then again it was nice to do nothing for once. Dinner was nice too, more roast potatoes= yum!


So right now we are all sitting around the table on the lawn in front of the guesthouse and conversation has turned to horror films. Turns out Vicky, not so keen on the shining-REDRUM (LOL).

Day 7: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

Ok this blog is being written by me, Vicky, as my journal really impressed Sufian who asked if I would write this for today so bare with it.

The day began with another early morning but the breakfast each day is worth the effort, I just want to add that the pineapple here is AMAZING! I suggest everyone comes to Uganda just for the pineapple. We then had a half an hour walk to St. Francis (Erin’s time estimate for this was pretty precise which makes a change). The challenge for today was to help with a club run by the people who work at St. Francis called the Shadow Idol Club.


It’s fair to say everyone was feeling a bit anxious. When we finally arrived we all felt so much better and excited because we received another warm, friendly welcome by everyone. Approximately there were about 150 children ranging from 9 to 18 years old. We started by making a small presentation explaining who we are and why we are here and a bit about how we raised the money. The children were a little quiet but they soon felt comfortable and began to ask and answer questions. We then split into 3 groups based on age and gave a talk to each group about home life, sex education and school.


The children enjoyed the presentations and found them very interesting but they found the games we play even better, it’s really weird that no one in Uganda knows simple songs and games like the wheels on the bus or tag but have their own songs and games that we don’t know. During our lunch break we had one of the older children come and give us some feedback of what the children thought of the day so far, (I got an honourable mention) the feedback we got was really positive and made us all want to make the rest of the afternoon even better. After lunch we were treated to a show of acts singing, dancing and doing comedies for us.


After the entertainment everyone just got involved in different games that people had started, it ranged from football to being chased by 50 kids yelling Mzungu (white person). By three o’clock it was time to say goodbye which was a bit sad so we are hoping to squeeze in time to go to next week’s session.


Even though everyone was a bit tired and exhausted, we went to the Omoana house to see the children again, despite the long day everyone got the energy to play games and teach dances to the kids. Never mind coffee or Red Bull, the thing that gives you the most energy is seeing a child happy and excited to see you. When it was nearly time for dinner, we faced the task of walking back to the accommodation. After a quick wash we were treated to another delicious dinner with some African cuisines. With our bellies full (I was hoping to lose weight out here but the way they are feeding us I’ll be coming back a stone heavier) some of us went for an early night, but Chloe, Jodie, Karen and I sat outside having a nice chat while enjoying the beautiful night.


Well that’s all for today folks, this was supposed to be short and sweet but it’s more of an essay sorry! If you’re reading this, I LOVE YOU MUM!

Day 6: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

So it was a bleary eyed bunch that gathered for breakfast at 8am, Sally had gone off to photograph flowers and study the birds whilst Erin discovered a glorious restaurant. We all had a fabulous breakfast that took an hour longer than expected so yet again we kept our coach driver waiting.... are we becoming very African in our habits I wonder??


Our next adventure was to be driven to a rain forest where we were taken on a 3 hour hike, considering the lack of sleep everyone showed amazing stamina as Peter the resident Biologist at the field study centre set a fierce pace.

Vicky, Nikima and Chloe took the lead behind Peter and kept up a running commentary about obstacles and topography so the forest rang with the sound of muddy patch’ ‘ going up’ going down’ ‘log in the way’ sadly but not surprisingly we didn’t see leopards or monkeys. We did however see some amazing trees called strangler figs which grow around enormous trees and over a hundred years strangle them to death. We saw all stages on the succession which were fantastic (guess who’s writing this entry), the group were all very tolerant of my need to ask questions and slow the pace.


We came out of the forest around 2.30pm and they looked for a place for lunch which took slightly longer than hoped for and involved a slightly alarming stop in a lay by where sellers tried to thrust chicken legs on sticks through the coach windows. We sensibly decided not to stop here and drove into Jinja and went to the pizza place that the group had enjoyed on Thursday, conversation was lively and Saskia and Shaunie impressed Sally and Erin with their plans for their extended essays.


We are now all back at our permanent accommodation, thrilled with clean sheets and warm water (did I mention that there was no water at the camp site this morning?). Jodie was delighted that the towels she brought from home had been laundered for her free whilst she was away. We have just had another meal, the late lunch meant that we ended up having two meals in 3 hours and all now need a long spell of digesting. Everyone is thinking of an early night and the work we have to do tomorrow for the shadow idol club. So for now Good bye!

Day 5: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

What a morning! A 5am start, not to our activities but cleaning up the 5 million flies we all had in our room. Sally did give them a name and explained their biological nature, but all we know is that they die randomly and only follow light.


We headed out to Jinja town, for the morning and early afternoon. As we arrived the chants of ‘mizungu’ could not be avoided, translated it means ‘o white one’, but it is said in a friendly way, with no offence intended. The centre of Jinja is a place full of history and colour. To see the old buildings on the high street all marked with the date they were erected and the names of the owners, all Indian, reminds you of the history and turbulent times this country went through, something we could all relate to because of the film released a year ago; The Last King of Scotland.


The markets are full of absolute freshness, fresh meat, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and the most refreshing people. Customer service is miles better than what we have in the UK, it is mainly down to the fact that if you sell you can feed your family and if you don’t you cannot, so competition is really heated.


Our bargaining skills were absolutely atrocious, it was virtually impossible to get them to budge on their price, Sally was quick to give in and would give them what they asked for, it resulted in Sally choosing her items and walking out of the shop, they assumed Sufian was her bodyguard and that he was not from England, so he managed to save us a lot of money. Shop keepers were willing to pay him to go away!!! That is how much he haggled with them.


All the students had lunch in the only pizza place in Jinja, it excited everyone a great deal seeing menus where they could recognise the items. We spent a few hours in the markets and then headed towards Lake Victoria and the source of the Nile, where we stopped for a few hours. A thousand snaps taken and a strange sort of attachment to the source of the Nile, watching the students wave at the Nile and actually say goodbye to it, was strange. We headed towards Bujjagaali falls, we wanted to be there for sun set. What a moment that was, a silence from all of us, jaws dropped and pure tranquillity surrounded us, the sound of water crushing down at the fall and the sight of the sun setting, a moment words will never do justice to. Wow, oh my God, were the only words echoed as we walked away.


We headed towards our campsite, just when we thought we had seen the most amazing view, things just got better. The sight was a traveller sight for foreigners, with tight security and a restaurant with a view, we stopped and just contemplated why Winston Churchill called Uganda the pearl of Africa, because it is as some would say ‘Heaven on Earth’.



We had a no set time to sleep, so we sat uWe had a no set time to sleep, so we sat up in the restaurant, gossiping and enjoying the views, the smell of fresh breeze as mosquitoes seem to drop dead after tasting the deet in which our skins were drenched in. All of the students enjoyed a really sociable evening and got a bit of a taste of a travellers hostel. The people there were from all over the world and spent the evening checking out which Country you were from how far you had travelled and where you were going next. Karen raised a noticeable cheer from an Irish contingent while Vicky showed off her amazing dancing skills for the whole of the people staying there and even got called an inspiration! The accommodation was interesting Sally, Erin and Melissa thought theirs was great, Sufian and all of the students were less impressed so the night was a restless one with people trying to get comfortable and stay safe from mosquitoes as there were lots around as we were much closer to water.

Day 4: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

Today we went to the Njeru parent school, it has absolutely nothing to do with parents, but that is what the name is. We had lesson plans prepared, the full works included; BLP, differentiation, lesson objectives, Marc Hulbert would be seriously impressed with the plan. The delivery was not quite as smooth, as the large classes and the lack of English made it rather difficult, but the students use of initiative on the spot was impressive, as they quickly adapted the plans to fit the profile of the class.


At break time the students all gathered around us in the playground, a very industrial site looking playground. The only way we could describe the feeling was like a movie premier, where the stars have over a hundred hands trying to shake their hands. After the handshakes, spirits were high, children began to sing and the most unexpected of things happened. Ben Kelby, suddenly ran through the crowd and went absolutely mad on the make shift dance floor, 10 minutes of extreme joy for all watching and some serious cardio training for Ben.


The children shared some very nice local songs, with diva like voices, all we could exchange with them was ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ and ‘old Mcdonald had a farm’, it was their hospitality and kindness that kept them from questioning how silly our songs were in comparison to theirs. The song we all learnt was called ‘young stars’ and goes something like this; ‘we are the young stars, we sing all over the mountains, we sing, we sing, we sing all over, we sing all over UGANDA’.


We had presentations prepared, with facts and figures about LSFC, new college project and Luton in general. They were excited by our new college project, it was at that moment when the head teacher told us that the school we were in was recently constructed, and I do believe he expected us to compliment the building but an awkward silence echoed in the room. The school newly constructed and the best in the local vicinity, would actually not qualify as suitable for animals by RSPCA standard. In our circle time, it was perhaps something we all spent considerable time discussing, how fortunate we are to have the NCP and how we take what we have for granted.


We were invited to deliver a sports day event at a different school, after a very long day in school and having met all 400 children and sang head shoulders knees and toes with every single one of them. On arrival to the sports ground we were in extreme shock, I was perhaps the most frightened, as they had a large field, perhaps the same size as 4 large football pitches, divided into a soft ball corner, baseball, football and volley ball. The football guys were training as we arrived, it was like watching a video of SAS army training, very regimental and fast paced, with tops off, they were perhaps the most muscular students we have ever seen, they did not look like boys, and they were grown men. Sufian was asked to play with them, after watching them train, he looked extremely frightened and opted to play soft ball with a team of 8 year old girl’s team, and he struggled with that as well. Louise, Nikima, Shaunie and Vicky did Luton SFC proud with their football skills.


This in general was a bad day for Sufian, he had to make a speech on behalf of Luton SFC, at St. Francis and both Schools, we as a team could not really give him much support because he repeated the same one for all three.


Our walk home, our sporting egos battered, we had the best surprise so far, which lifted our spirits. As we walked on the dirt track on the side of the road, an entourage oh army vehicles and blacked out 4x4’s headed towards us, crowds were running after the vehicles, waving and shouting hysterically. The vehicles came to a stop and the President of Uganda popped up from the sunroof, addressed the crowd with a short motivational message, which we did not understand. It was as he was about to drive off, he noticed us and called us towards him, we took a few nudges from his guards, who I think will be in serious trouble tonight after the President reacted with quite some anger, he offered us handshakes, Sufian and a handful of students greeted him and he asked us about where we came from, we did tell him that we are from Luton. As Sufian backed away, Sally approached the President to greet him; she obviously was a risk to national security and was stopped immediately by a very big and aggressive man.


It was quite some day, we have now all retired for the night, and we have 2 days off, with a camping trip planned for tomorrow night at the source of the Nile.


Oh gosh!!! Retirement was short lived, our rooms are swamped by flies, they are called lake flies, harmless but irritating to sleep with, if they flew off it would be OK, but they seem to fly around for 3 seconds and die, their bodies landing in all the places you would not want them to, on your tooth brush, stuck in your soap bars, your hair and even beards for some.

Day 3: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

We have been given responsibility to lead the Shadow Idol Club, this takes places every Saturday at St. Francis health care centre. We came to the centre at 9am for a prompt start, but as we have been told many times, we really need to get used to ‘Ugandan time’ because 9am does not necessarily mean 9am, as today’s start was delayed to 10am. As we waited we practiced a range of different games, which we thought we may be able to do with the kids at the Saturday’s shadow idol club, ‘stuck in the mud’, ‘duck duck goose’ and ‘tag’. The students realised that the games we all seem to know are actually quite difficult to explain to anyone who does not understand our language and pass time activities.

This plan to play games took a severe blow when we sat in our session with John, as he explained that the youth club has a minimum attendance of 120 students and as much as 300. The students gasped in shock and realised that they need to be seriously creative and imaginative in dealing with the club.

We visited Omoana centre, which is a respite care provision for children with Aids and HIV. We met the most cute children in the world, the personalities, the vibrancy in the atmosphere was ecstatic. The children were excited in meeting us and playing with us. Ceaser, possesses as much confident as President Obama, difference being Caeser is 3 years old, trust me, he is something special. We all split into little teams with the children, Karen was with the youngest child at the centre aged 2; Mariam, she did not go near anyone else but could not seem to let go of Karen. We also met Sir Jim, we are all sure we have not really understood what his real name but it sounds so much like ‘Sir Jim’, so he has officially been knighted by us, he actually is quite a ‘sir’ type of kid, so serious, but really caring of all the other children.

Wow, roast potatoes for dinner, the most amazing roast potatoes, incredible, absolutely delicious, we spent over an hour just talking about how great they were. We had to add this onto our blog; as they have the world’s best roast potatoes.