Happy New Year

It has been 4 weeks since we managed to post a blog. Today the internet is working but not reliably so a short piece to say we are well and looking forward to 2008. Today is a public holiday so we hired a taxi and went off in search of the Polish Church. This is a Catholic Church built in 1945 by women and children from Poland who had been released from Stalins camps by the British and sent to safety in Uganda. It is a remarkable story and a really beautiful church in the bush. It is well used and there was a service there today complete with a choir and traditional instruments.


MERRY CHRISTMAS ( BETTER LATE THAN NEVER)
We have just returned from a two week break in the UK. It was great to see family and catch up with all the news. England was cold and Christmas was on everyone’s mind. It had been hard to think of Christmas in Masindi where it is so hot and dusty. I am afraid that we have sent few cards and bought fewer presents this year but we will be thinking of everyone on Christmas day. It looks like we will be having turkey courtesy of Sallie at the hotel. Maggie managed to bring some Brussel sprouts and a Christmas pudding back. I am not sure what they will taste like in the heat but we will enjoy and remember everyone back in the UK, especially our children and grandchildren who seem to be well organised for the festivities. Maggie did have to make Daniels favourite parsnip roulade for his Christmas dinner to leave in Hannah’s freezer but everything else they seem to have sorted.
The blog has been neglected for the last few weeks but lots of people in the UK said they
enjoyed our ramblings so we will try and keep it up to date.
We were in Kampala the last week of November for more VSO training. It was good to meet up with our fellow volunteers and share experiences. We felt lucky to have found such good accommodation and friends in Masindi. Most people were finding work challenging but were keen to continue. Half way through the training we heard that our house in Masindi was flooded. As Soloman, our night askari, put it “there is too much water in your house”. We had made sure the house was secure before we left and foolishly had not left a key. Luckily Masindi connections worked again and we were able to send a key back so someone could gain access. We thought that was sorted but the next day we still had ‘too much water’. Our efforts to make the place secure meant that we had locked all the internal doors and the key for the inner door was not where I thought I had put it. No worries, someone decided to switch off the supply from the water tank outside as that should stop the flow. Next day there was still ‘too much water’ so the water board was contacted but unfortunately no stop cock had been fitted when the water meter was fitted.
We arrived late Sunday night to find water flowing out of the door. I managed to gain access and climbed in to the loft to find the cold tank had fallen and the mains pipe was happily pouring water in to the loft. This was flowing out of a hole in the ceiling and we had our very own waterfall into the hall by our bedroom. There was six inches of water in the bedrooms so we had to abandon the place and stay at Court View. The next day a water board plumber managed to stop the leak and by pass the pipe. Once the leak was fixed all we had to do was brush the water out of the door and throw the mats out to dry. The advantage of concrete floors and no carpets is everything dries quickly. Luckily the ceiling did not crash down so we were able to move back in after 3 days. We then had to pack for our return to England for mum’s funeral and Ben and Faye’s wedding.
We are now back in the house after having spent only 3 nights here in the last month and are looking forward to welcoming our first guests next week. The spare bed will arrive once we have found a pick-up to deliver it. We have the slight panic ‘will it fit up the stairs?’ but there is no point in worrying; some how things always seem to sort themselves out in Uganda.

The internet has been impossible over Christmas but we hope to post this today Sunday. Christmas has passed with Maggie finally cooking the turkey on Boxing Day. We had four guests and all enjoyed a traditional English Christmas meal complete with bread sauce and sprouts. Simba, our guest from Zanzibar, managed to eat the regulation one sprout but it is an acquired taste so he did not ask for more! As usual we were left with large amounts of turkey but managed to have more guests last night for a turkey curry followed by Papaya Sherbet. Maggie is getting a well earned reputation as a cook in Masindi and as she has one of the few ovens every one is expecting great things for 2008. She has managed to make bread and this is the first decent bread we have had in Uganda as Ugandans like sweet bread.
We have also hosted our first guests this week. Dan and Grania came from Kampala and stayed the night. Luckily we had managed to track down a pick up and transport the bed from the carpenters. It took 4 men to lift it off the pick up and it then had to be taken to pieces to fit in to the room. But all was well in time for the arrival. Maggie finished the curtains and they were fitted just in time. The spare room is now complete for any one who wants to visit. .

We will atempt a better blog next week when hopefully we can send some pictures