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.

Day 2: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

An 8am start, we all met up for breakfast. Toast, eggs, sausages, cornflakes and fruit were on the menu, along with some very nice Ugandan coffee, tea and juice. After a short briefing from the Great Generation team, we made our way to St. Francis Health Care Centre, in the 4x4 ambulance they had sent to pick us up, 12 of us squeezed into a 7 seater vehicle for the 5minute drive to the centre. We had our tour around the centre, met the only doctor they have in this area, Dr Emma, and he is a male, this seems to be a popular male name in Uganda.

We went to the children’s centre; it is actually very nice; we were impressed by the standards of the facilities and support provisions available to the community. The children centre provides 24hour support for young children who have HIV/AIDS. The centre was built in December through the aid of funds donated by a Swedish gentleman. They have regular foreign schools/colleges and students visit them and do voluntary work. The centre was painted by a Swiss student recently and she has really given it a nice nursery feeling, with animals and scenery on the walls.

Our tour was led by Claudia, a US student from Connecticut on a peace core project. She has been here for over a year now and will complete a 27month placement before she returns home. Her dedication and commitment was very inspiring for us all. Her in depth knowledge of the culture and the projects helped us understand the role and function of this centre in the community. She is teaching us a few basic words in Lugandan the language spoken by the locals in Uganda.

John a senior member of the St. Francis team gave us a detailed insight into HIV/Aids, the biological theory and facts, as well as a detailed insight into the problems within the community and the different projects they have launched to tackle the issue in a holistic manner.

Lunch was a very traditional meal, filled with local delicacies such as Matooke and Maize. We were certainly well catered for; there was enough food to feed a small army. It was a shame to have to leave such mouth-watering food behind. The watermelon did not go to waste, though perhaps some people managed to get it everywhere bar their mouths.

We paid a surprise visit to the school in which we will be delivering lessons, just to have a look around and familiarise ourselves. This visit left us all in total shock and bewilderment; the school building was tattered and not for storage let alone teaching and learning, but this was not what we were taken back by, it was the signage in the school grounds. The school has invested in some signposts, which were dug into the ground around the front courtyard, but it was hard to comprehend some of the ills the local community was faced with, some signs; ‘Do not take gifts for sex’ ‘defilement is bad’ ‘beware of sugar daddies’ these were just three of about 14 quite unusual signs. John our guide did say that the signs were a way of educating the primary school students, helping them understand that abuse should not be tolerated.

As we arrived back to our accommodation we were faced with a dilemma, as Victoria managed to break the handle from inside the bathroom and consequently locking herself inside. It took over an hour to get her out, we did manage to eventually, but spirits were high, as Victoria led the singing from inside the bathroom and the choir of 10 outside sang along with her.

Day 1: Gardening with The Great Generation in Jinja, Uganda

We were scheduled to meet between 4.30-5.00pm, but the excitement was too much for the volunteers, who were all ready and waiting outside terminal 3 at 3pm. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, as the excitement quickly turned into tears as the students waved goodbye and embarked upon their first step of a very long and arduous journey.

Our plane took off from Heathrow at around 9pm and we flew over parts of Europe and Africa. The map of the journey to Dubai was difficult to come to terms with, as no one could understand why we had to travel around half the world before getting to our destination. From Dubai to Ethiopia and then to Uganda, we even flew past Uganda on-route to Dubai. The volunteers quickly realised that in order to survive the marathon journey, they would have to be innovative in entertaining themselves as the Emirates in flight entertainment with over 500movies, was clearly not enough. So they began to sing and even dance; the cabin crew found it extremely amusing.

Once we got to Entebbe, we were all shattered and could not wait to get off the aeroplane. The moment of joy and relief, feeling the Ugandan summer breeze as we came down the steps of the aeroplane was indescribable. This feeling was quickly extinguished, as we had an hour’s wait in queues trying to fill in numerous forms, Uganda has clearly taken a strict approach to the containment of Swine flu.

We were all excited by the idea of getting into a minibus, thinking we will be at our place of residence in a few minutes. The few minutes quickly turned to hours and we watched the sun set. As we arrived to our hostel over three hours later the journey had taken its toll on all of us and no one was in any state for a picture. But the gasps, smiles and glowing eyes when they saw the accommodation was a pleasing moment for all. Our pre-project talk about the fact that we should leave expectations at home had clearly worked and the students, for some strange reason, were not expecting anything more than mud huts with holes in the ground for toilets. The smiles on their faces as they entered the hostel grounds were as if we had come to spend a night in Buckingham palace. Everyone was extremely excited and pleased with the accommodation. Dinner was delicious, we ate outside on the lawn and the Hotel manager Robert is clearly a perfectionist, we were served with great splendour.

After dinner the tiring faces and the smell of 24hours of travelling meant that no one was in the mood to hang around, everyone retired before 9pm. Wrestles with mosquito nets ensued.

Thirteen Students have reached Uganda to Volunteer

The Great Generation has had the privilege of working with a group of thirteen highly-motivated and enthusiastic International Baccalaureate students at the Luton Vith form college, and their teachers for the last nine months.

It was hard work fundraising! The students got their fellow pupils, family and friends involved: from music concerts to car washing, from cake sales to talent shows and bucket collections; not to mention approaching sponsors such as Luton Airport and the Parry Woodcock fund.

It was touch-and-go but the students reached their target in the end and have flown out to Uganda on Saturday for two weeks along with two members of staff and a Great Generation project leader. They will be working with St Francis Healthcare Initiative which runs a holistic HIV/AIDS outreach programme, as well as supporting many rural grandmothers living with HIV/AIDS and who look after their orphan grandchildren.

The volunteers' project will involve planting a garden for a newly established orphans respite home as well as painting the rooms in the home to make it a more bright and cheerful place for the children to stay. Volunteers will also look at ways to support local people into livelihood opportunities through microfinance.

The work doesn't stop there! When the students return, they will be making presentations to schools and organisations about their work, and continuing to support the community by promoting a the supply chain which wil advertise items that can be purchased by donors, sourced in Uganda and that will go directly to the community.

The Great Generation goes Corporate

A Win-Win Solution: Empowering communities, empowering staff and helping to sustain the ethos that runs through you and your work force.

The Great Generation works with a range of corporate partners in unlocking global business potential, and in the process, alleviating the problems that communities across the world confront. What The Great Generation offers is a highly though-through strategic approach to volunteering which enables long-term development to be a possibility.

Read more in our recent newsletter on how The Great Generation works with its Corporate Partners.

www.thegreatgeneration.org/newsletter

Want to continue giving...introducing the Supply Chain

So here's a bit of news from behind the scene. You may by now know that The Great Generation organises tailor-made volunteering projects for 6-12 volunteers at a time - might be to an arts-based project in India, or a gardening project in Uganda or teaching English to local Bedouin guides in Wild Jordan...but what happens after the volunteers return? This is where the Supply Chain comes in & what better way to give!

The Supply Chain is a unique way for our volunteers to become ambassadors for the local communities whom they have lived and worked with during their project.

Our volunteers work together with our Expert Partners and local communities to identify small items which can make a big difference. We advertise these items on our website and individuals can donate with the knowledge that these items are identified by the volunteers and that the money is going to where it is needed most.

So, IMAGINE your friend has just come back from a volunteering arts-based project in New Delhi, India. Your friend tells you that the kids who attend the extra mural classes come from the local slums, are undernourished and have difficulty concentrating because they are so hungry. Your friend knows the project, knows the children, knows that money can help to buy food, art & craft material and other books & learning material...

You want to help!

The Great Generation in the meantime has already spoken to the expert partners in India to enquire where the real needs are and how much is needed to continue the chain of giving support to this community.

And this is how you can help:

FRUITS that give children energy
1 fruit a day for 1 child costs 8 Rupees
There are 10 children in a class
The community centre is open 20 days a month.
8 Rupees x 10 children x 20 days = 1,600 Rupees or about £24

PAINT CONTAINERS for their art class
1 paint container costs about 500 Rupees or £7

READING BOOKS for learning
1 reading book costs about 150 Rupees or £2


The Supply Chain provides much needed items for projects. Click on the links below to view our current supply chain for the following 5 projects:

ESCP 2008
http://www.justgiving.com/supplychainforescp-eap2008project

Calder 2008
http://www.justgiving.com/supplychainforcalderhigh

Delhi Community Arts 2008
http://www.justgiving.com/supplychainfordelhicommunityarts08

Gardening Project 2008
http://www.justgiving.com/supplychainforgardeningproject08

Barclays 2009
http://www.justgiving.com/supplychainforbarclaysproject08

Volunteer on the Uganda project speaks about her understanding of poverty...

How would you define poverty?
Absolute poverty is a shortage of food, shelter and drinking water. I would also consider the lack of access to education and employment and subsequent social exclusion as poverty.

There is also relative poverty which is defined by social standards and compares people in a particular society in terms of access to goods and services - people excluded from these goods and services for financial reasons can be said to be poor relative to other members of their society. This is not the same as absolute poverty but it is still an issue.

How would you describe your emotions the first time you experience poverty?
I was quite shocked to see images that had previously existed only on television brought to life. The hardest thing was the scale of poverty which you can't grasp until you visit a poverty stricken area in person. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing how people lived, I was actually amazed at how positive they were - nobody I met was wallowing in self-pity, they were incredibly generous with the little that they had and I was left feeling deeply humbled.

What is the most shocking aspect of poverty you have experienced?
Teaching slum children in the Primary School in Mombasa who do not get regular meals at home was shocking. They were given beans at lunchtime at school, but trying to teach them on a Monday morning was hopeless as many of them hadn't eaten all weekend. One day I threw away the skin from a quarter of a mango that I had eaten, and one of the children picked it up and started eating the tiny bit of flesh still left on the skin. It was deeply shocking that she was so hungry, that I felt I had been quick to throw something away, and ultimately that there was nothing I could do there and then to solve the underlying poverty affecting these children.

What was the most enlightening aspect of poverty you have experienced?
The most enlightening thing on both of my projects in Kenya and Uganda was that the people I met never defined themselves as 'poverty stricken' or 'living in absolute poverty' - this is a label attached to them by the western world. These people are just getting on with their lives, and their dedication, generosity and willingness to help each other is breathtaking. Every one of the children at the primary school I support in Mombasa works incredibly hard in all their lessons, and they all have dreams of being doctors, lawyers, pilots and many other things! To them, education is everything and generally they are happy and positive despite what I perceive to be their challenging circumstances. Likewise in Uganda I met people who had literally given their lives to helping others when from a western perspective they were 'living in poverty' themselves. The most enlightening aspect for me is that these people are not looking for pity or handouts, they are incredibly grateful for my support, but they want to work alongside me and achieve their dreams in their own way with a little help from people like me - that gives me so much more confidence in what we can achieve in the future.

need for capacity building for small grass organisations

"With the partnership with The Great Generation, St. Francis will be able to achieve more when the capacity of the staff is strengthened. This what has been lacking in our organizational development. This is the dilema for small grassroot organizations who solily depend on the community volunteers who have good intentions but lack capacities in organization development. Although this is a strength, it is a challenge for organizational growth. I do strongly agree that this rare opportunity should be exploited to the full for St. Francis to grow and be able to achieve it's goals."

Feedback from an expert partner in Uganda working in partnership with The Great Generation

Day 5: Friday, 20th March…the last day!

We stopped at the printer in kampala to print two hard copies of our final marketing strategy. In a two hour meeting with all the key people, the four of us looked at ways to market Beads for Education. I think it was clear to them how much hard work went into it and what they needed to do to take things forward. At the close of lunch we took the opportunity to thank everyone at KHC for their support throughout the developmen of our project and for sharing their inspirations and achievements with us. We gave a certificate to those who attended the communications skills workshop and a special certificate was given to some of the key individuals with whom we worked closely with. We told them about the fundraising we did in England and how we would like them to use that money. Then we handed over some stationary and 5 laptops that were donated to the project from the UK. The room whooped with joy and we all got very emotional – they sang a beautiful song to wish us a safe journey home which made us cry even more. At the end of the presentation we felt emotionally drained in the same way that you do at the end of an exam. The last thing we did before leaving was to buy some of the beads that we were helping them to market. We simply couldn’t choose and all left with many beautiful pieces of jewellery. All in all this project has been amazing and something that we genuinely will never forget.

Day 4: Thursday, 19th March

Today we defined our recommendation to KHC taking into account all the conversations we’ve had over the past week - which included our observations and the transfering of knowledge that we've acquired over the last 2 years working with Barclays. Together we worked seemlessley and relentlessly. The results are impressive – a 13 page document containing recommendations, considerations, costs, and necessary dependencies for both the long and short term. It was like a heavy air of hope and anticipation that had been lifted. We hope we have equipped KHC with the skills, templates and knowledge that they can now implement and benefit from for many years to come…tomorrow is the official handover of our work.

Day 3: Wednesday, 18th March

Our day kicks of by seeing the Beads For Life project. This was followed by an extremely surreal experience visiting a bead village where enroute we walked through a school. Within just a few seconds each of us had at literally 100s of children clinging onto our hands. The genuine excitement and happiness on their faces is something that we will never forget. Our day was rounded off with another communication skills workshop. This time we taught 3 of the PHD women how to further deliver the workshop to their colleagues. Things began rather bleakly with seemingly little enthusiasm of the task at hand - infact all the signs were there telling us to give up but then we finished the session asking the women to deliver the workshop back to us. To our astonishment the women relayed every single point we had told them plus more - executing the workshop with charisma and intent. They had surpassed all expectations and grasped onto the opportunity with both hands.

Day 2: Tuesday, 17th March - an introduction to Kawempe...

"True kindness comes from knowing what it feels like to be without." Ghandi

If Day 1 served as an introduction to Kawempe, day 2 really brought home the reality of care in the community and capacity building in practice. Heartbreaking, awe-inspiring, frustrating - it's hard to put the experience into words. Seeing - in reality - the images that have haunted TV screens in the UK and hearing impossible stories that you couldn't make up made us all take a step back and re-evaluate issues of humanity. The dignity with which the clients talked about their experiences and welcomed us into their homes amazed us all. Something that couldn't be doubted is the real impact Kawempe Home Care has made to these people's lives - their support - physically, emotionally and medically - has given new life to these people. And yes, there's a long way to go, but the impact to date is unquestionable.

Joyce - Joyce deserves a whole paragraph dedicated to her in this blog. What an incredible, loving woman. A woman who has used her own experiences of being HIV positive to turn around the lives of other sufferers in her community. A woman who has turned her home into a clinic to support her neighbours and her neighbours' neighbours. A woman who will work for Kawempe Home Care until she dies - a true inspiration.

Following our community visit we returned to Kawempe to work on our project plan, brainstorming options for developing a sustainable income stream for Kawempe through their Beads for Education programme. Simultaneously we developed and implemented our first communications workshop to help upskill the volunteers and clients. 23 people attended the workshop and although they were reluctant to answer questions and join in at the start, they warmed to our method of knowledge sharing by the end and the initial feedback was really positive!

So at the end of day 2 we sit down and reflect - reflect on today, reflect on tomorrow and reflect on how these experiences will stay with us and hopefully inform our behaviours. As we hope to make an impact on their lives, they are already making an impact on ours.

Day 1: Monday, 16th March - Barclays team arrive

Arriving at Kawempe Home Care, following an invigorating night of sound sleep (despite the thunderstorm, monkey cries, goat mews and the night terrors or our sleeping companions) we felt excited at the prospect of meeting the team, if not a little apprehensive. But what a welcome we received from Chris, Dr Sam and the team: warmth, enthusiasm, positivity and yoga (more exercise than one of our team had done for a while!) Starting the day in such a unique way, dancing, clapping and praying in the open air, in the backdrop of a vista of lush greenery, cows and traditional African houses, is something that we will all remember.

Day 1 really was about absorption, learning and reflecting on our objectives and the challenges faced by Kawempe. Safe to say it's not a small ask but the positive attitude and proclamations of love were inspirational and made us all realise that small steps can leave a huge impression - as a dedicated and committed team a real impact can be made.

The holistic approach to care in the community and the volume of work undertaken by the volunteers and workers at Kawempe is nothing short of miraculous - local communities helping local communities.

So day 1 - what a lot to learn about Kawempe, about Uganda, about Ugandan culture, about Ugandan working practices, about the NGO sector, about having an impact, about overcoming challenges and about working as a team to achieve a united goal - be it big or small.

Emily, Project Leader, sets the scene...

It is hard to begin to explain the experience of working out in Uganda on behalf of The Great Generation. I have never seen such an industrious, innovative and enterprising response to hardship and poverty.  Uganda embodies The Great Generation.  This is a country full of entrepreneurs and people who refuse to give up.

We have been working with a number of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) - whom we call our Expert Partners - most of which have developed holistic responses to the spread and impact of HIV Aids. While Uganda has been successfully working towards reducing HIV Aids rates on a national scale, there still exists a regional variation which sees some lake side settlements with rates still as high as 35%.  The work to join sectors in the fight against disease and poverty is ongoing.

Our partner organisations are all run by individual community leaders who want to give back, who refuse to walk away from the problems that exist in their communities.  They battle with faulty infrastructure on a daily basis to achieve their mission.  One of our partners has managed to set up delivery of free anti retroviral treatment to all members of their community who are HIV positive.  This has involved continual work, continual pushing, lobbying.  The drugs arrive and people refuse to take them because they cannot guarantee their next meal.  There are numerous factors which trap people into the cycle of poverty and disease, but for our community partners this will not deter their delivery, and the team will continue to fight on all levels, bringing dignity, prosperity and health to the people of Uganda.  We have much to learn from their approach.

We are proud to be working in Uganda, building the capacity of Expert Partners and their community activities.  This is an opportunity to share our knowledge, experience and goodwill, and join the battle against hardship on all levels. We have far to go before the Millennium Development Goals are achieved, but one thing is for sure, we need to work together to get there, listening to the real need that exist at a community level, and responding with appropriate, locally defined solutions.

Volunteers arrive...

"Volunteers have arrived and are happy. We had lunch and did some sightseeing in Kampala, then a very early night for them. They raised c. £900 for KHC which is amazing! They want to choose how this is invested during the week as part of the infrastructure investment, and as KHS outlined a printer/scanner/photocopier as being a priority, they would like the investment to go towards that. They have also sourced 5 laptops, stationary and 50 Manchester United shirts!

First day tomorrow..." Emily, Project Leader

Emily, Project Leader for TGG, arrives in Kampala...

On Friday, 13th March, we're waiting to hear from Emily - who's just arrived in Kampala, Uganda and will be spending the next week overseeing a pilot capacity building project alongside a group of 4 top Barclay graduates who will be volunteering their marketing skills to help drive an HIV/Aids Outreach and Home-Care Initiative. Emily arrived earlier in the week and has been busy working with the expert partner to ensure that when the volunteers arrive on Sunday all runs according to plan.

Emily phones at 10:15am...to give an update - she's in a remote place called Ginga, 18kms from Kampala, the country's capital. It's the epicenter of HIV Aids - she says 'a harrowing reality'. She's spent the last few days uncovering where the needs are, creating a long-term vision for partnership in Uganda to help with the crisis and waits to see how, once the volunteers arrive on Sunday, the project will work to empower, train - and create an infrastructure for fulfilling the needs of the community.

Stay posted for more of the latest news...