The Lost Forest

Normally we set aside some time at the weekend to put something on the blog. As we have now learnt through experience, and become to accept, there is no point in making definite plans. Last Saturday I was unexpectedly invited to a wedding ‘introduction’ to accompany Sallie. In Uganda this ceremony is as important, if not more so, than the wedding itself. The mother of the bride, daughter-in-law to the king of one of Uganda’s kingdoms, is someone I have met before. On our visit here last June we went with her to her ranch set on a very remote five square mile plot of land in the middle of the bush. So remote, she couldn’t find it herself as she hadn’t visited for some time. We had to stop often to ask the villagers, who inhabit her land, where it was. She has lived in Barnet for the last thirty odd years since she went there with her lawyer husband and young family. Her husband was murdered during the Amin regime. The Introduction was at the same venue but we managed to find it a bit more easily this time and only had to stop once for directions. It was a very grand affair with marquees outside. We were the honoured guests from the UK and were seated with the princes and princesses. It was quite an experience and I’m pleased I had the opportunity to attend. These occasions can be very lengthy and often boring but this one,although lengthy, was well organised and entertaining. Many potential brides are paraded before the groom before he declares which one he will accept. Gifts are proffered, numerous speeches delivered, the ceremonious cutting of the cake (the bride-to-be with her brother as the groom has to wait until the actual wedding), certificates to be signed, local entertainment, etc., etc.
Sunday turned out to be quite an interesting day too. We set out to go for a swim at the Kinyara Sugar Co. Management Club, as we have done many times before. It is quite a trek to get there, along narrow, dusty roads and we have to rely on being able to find a driver and car to take us. On the way, Sallie announced that she’d like to just pop and check up on the chimps which are under threat from poachers and live in a nearby forest. I’m not sure how many miles we drove around the sugar plantation; it was like being in a maize of 6ft high sugar cane. We drove from forest to forest, sometimes off road (in a saloon car!) until we eventually found the right forest. Of course, by this time it was bedtime for the chimps and we didn’t find any. We did see lots of collobus monkeys and african grey parrots. The moonlit swim was quite nice really!
So, despite being away from Masindi for five weeks, we soon felt like we hadn’t been away at all. Chris managed to go straight back to work although his arm is very weak. I’m sure everyone who has seen him recently will be pleased to know that he’s gaining weight - we managed to eat very well back in the UK and we don’t exactly go hungry here either. Trouble is, I am also gaining weight and I’d rather not. When we returned I was paid a great compliment, allegedly in Ugandan culture, by a couple of people who told me I was fat! This means I must be very healthy and strong. Mmm….!!
Chris was very excited to finally see the vehicle which he is hoping to use for work being towed away by an ambulance (though we haven’t found out where to yet). When we arrived in Masindi last September, Chris found it abandoned in the hospital grounds and discovered it hadn’t been anywhere for six months. No-one seemed to know why not and there were no plans to get it back on the road. It was originally donated by the Elton John Foundation and intended to be used for District work. As this is what Chris is supposed to be developing and can’t because of lack of transport, he thought he would some of the funds he has raised to get the vehicle back in action. So, after several trips to the ATM to withdraw the necessary 4.3 million shillings (and a suitcase to carry it in!) it has been towed away - I wonder when we will see it again. Another great excitement last week was the arrival of Pamela, a VSO district nurse from the UK, who will be working with Chris. Pamela is staying with us until her house is ready and we are doing our best to gently introduce her to Uganda without scaring her away and heading for the next flight home. She bought a washing up bowl and a spoon yesterday so it’s looking hopeful that she will stay! I am full of admiration for anyone coming here on their own and tackling this.
Before we left for the UK I had been setting up a craft shop at Sallie’s hotel. It has always been on my list of ‘things I’d like to do’ but never yet got around to doing. I was really pleased when Sallie took up my suggestion and was just about ready for opening when I was whisked away. Thankfully they managed to finish getting it ready for the half-term rush and it’s doing very well. If you look hard enough there are quite a lot of crafts being made by various projects in Uganda, some of them struggling to market their goods, so hopefully this will be another useful outlet for them. Consequently, I am spending more time at the hotel but really enjoying it and there’s never a dull moment!
Yesterday I celebrated my birthday as well as International Women’s Day. I cooked for a group of friends and had a lovely day. I’ll try not to let muttering of ‘best food in Masindi’ followed by ‘best food in Uganda’ go to my head!! I received some very nice cards and gifts, thank you all!
It is Sunday again and we are about to set off for a swim at Kinyara - watch this space……………….

P.S. photos to follow, network is too slow tonight!

Back on Berwick Bridge

It is freezing on the bridge but the light is fantastic and Sammy the seal is just in front of me. This posting is a bit late for various reasons normal service should be resumed back in Uganda.
Yes, we are still in the UK but the end of our nomadic lifestyle is in sight. We reluctantly tore ourselves away from our one and only settee, which is carefully positioned parallel to the window to take advantage of the wonderful view of the walled town of Berwick and from there the mouth of the river and out to sea, to travel to London for Chris’ out patient’s appointment. Once again we have Kare and Steve to thank for their generous hospitality. After a brief chat with the doctor Chris was given the all clear to leave. Understandably, VSO require a letter of confirmation and we were a bit disconcerted to learn that at St George’s they send their dictation to India to be transcribed and it returns three weeks later. Fortunately Chris managed to persuade the doctor to hand write a letter there and then. Our priority was then to contact VSO and see when the next available flight would be. We were prepared for anything - my experience in Kampala a month ago has taught me to always travel with a toothbrush, change of underwear and passport as you never know which continent you are going to be whisked off to at a moment’s notice. It seems that the next batch of VSOers will be travelling out to Uganda on the 22nd February and seats are available for us on the same flight. One of the new recruits is a district nurse who will be working along side Chris in Masindi. We have had telephone and e-mail contact with Pam and we’re looking forward to meeting her. Waiting until next Friday to fly out has meant we’ve been able to spend a bit more time with family and friends, although they’re getting tired of saying ‘goodbye’! We really hope that this time we’ll stay put for some time. We haven’t spent more than four consecutive weeks in our house in Masindi. The other advantage of being in the UK is being able to satisfy our desire for comfort food and try and replace some of the two stone lost by Chris. Whilst at Hannah’s house in Sheffield we thought we’d help Chris with his newly acquired phobia of step ladders. For some reason, he can’t even walk within ten feet of a ladder without nervously flinching. Neither Hannah nor I could stop the smoke alarm so Chris had to find considerable nerve and pluck up courage to climb those steps with the two of us tightly clutching the base. Just to complete the therapy session for the day we made him change the light bulbs while he was at it!
We’ve mastered the art of travelling by public transport in the UK; approximately ten train journeys up and down the country and numerous tube and bus rides. I wonder if the concept of buses leaving on time will catch on in Uganda. There the bus will only leave when full of passengers and that can take up to three hours, sometimes never, and then you have to disembark and look for another one! Masindi here we come!!

Back in Berwick

Thanks to the wonderful NHS my R arm is now plated and almost working. After arriving at Heathrow we were taken to St Georges,Tooting Casualty department. Two trips to fracture clinic and then it was decided that the fracture needed plating and I was booked on the next available trauma list. Unfortunately this was not until Sunday but at least I was not admitted until the Saturday. Thankfully Kare and Steve live only 10 minutes away from the hosptital and we were very grateful to stay there and be looked after.I admit I am not the most patient patient and it was annoying not to be able to do anything. It is remakable how a broken bone can affect all of you,I certainly felt I was paying for my moment of madness.
Surgery went fine and I was out the next day the arm is painful and stiff but it is improving every day. We have returned to Berwick for rest and recuperation. I have an out patients appointment on 14th Feb and hope to fly back to Uganda soon after.
It is sobering to think what would have happened without VSO and insurance.For most Ugandans the treatment would have been painkillers and wait and see. The best result would have been a stiff useless right arm. This would mean no chance of earning a living with no safety net of sick pay.We heard the other day of a bad bus crash in Masindi and 15 people were admitted to hospital. One needed transfer to Kampala in a coma, others had fractures.Hopefully they will recover. It makes you think about the differences between the two countries so we made a list of good things in Berwick and Masindi.

BERWICK

NHS
Family & friends
Transport
Haddock, chips & mushy peas
Comfort food
Sea
Changing weather
Broadband
Radio 4
No leaking gutters!

MASINDI

Sunshine
Friends & colleagues
Work
Birdlife
Slower pace of life
Swahili lessons
Shopping on the market
Smiley kids

Perils of a left-handed pee!

VSO promises you a new experience. One I had not planned for is a left-handed pee. We’d had a pretty straightforward week and were wondering what to put on the blog. Maggie went off with Sallie to Kampala to shop for the hotel and I was planning a quiet weekend at home. I’d finished off a report on the chronic care clinic whilst sitting on the patio watching the birds. I then made a stupid error. I decided to try and fix the gutter which had been leaking. It’s fairly easy climbing up a ladder but it’s so much quicker falling down! I landed on my back on the concrete with my right arm underneath me. Luckily I did not hit my head. Once I had collected my thoughts I realised my shoulder was ‘spoilt’. I thought I’d dislocated it and tried to remember how to relocate it. Unfortunately this was extremely painful and I started to feel 'a little unwell'. As I was on my own, I was concerned I was going to pass out but managed to phone Olav, a fellow volunteer, to get him to come round. By the time Olav arrived I realised that I needed an x-ray. This isn’t a simple procedure in Masindi. I knew that the hospital didn’t have any x-ray films so we phoned the Supreme Clinic. Their x-ray machine was ‘spoilt’ but Daniel, the Clinical Officer, said to go down and he would look. Luckily Wilson, the radiographer from Masindi Hospital, was at the clinic. He said he would take a film from the Supreme to the hospital and x-ray me there. Wilson had had a stroke several months ago and had a left-hand hemiplegia. While I struggled to get into the front of Olav’s car with a very painful right arm, Wilson struggled to get into the back of the car with a hemiplegia. The x-ray was duly taken and showed a very nice fracture of the surgical neck of the humerus. By the time I arrived at the hospital, Rose the cleaner, Solomon the askari, plus Daryl, had all arrived to see how I was doing. I don’t know much about bones but I realised this fracture would need surgery and I would have to go to Kampala. I plucked up courage to phone Maggie and admit my stupidity and a taxi was arranged to take me to meet her in Kampala. The four hour trip with an unstable fracture is another experience that I hope never to repeat. Thanks to the VSO medical insurance I went straight to A & E at the International Hospital. After a quick assessment, Doctor Victor decided to put a back-slab on to stabilise the fracture and to admit me. He also gave me a shot of pethidine for which I was most grateful. Sunday morning I was seen by the orthopaedic consultant who said that the fracture needed to be plated. Unfortunately the special plate is not available in Uganda so he recommended re-patriation to the UK. Somehow the insurance company managed to get us a flight to Heathrow at 9.45 the following morning (flashing lights and sirens in the ambulance to Entebbe and then Business Class no less!). From Heathrow we were transferred to St George’s Hospital and now it is a matter of waiting until they can perform the operation. We don’t know when we will be able to return to Uganda.
Meanwhile, Chris is learning to do things left-handed; peeing is possible but cleaning teeth is a real challenge!

All quiet in Masindi

This has been a quiet week in Masindi, no floods or burglaries so what is there to write about apart from the tragic loss of a family heirloom. Unfortunately the kids will not have the pleasure of fighting over Maggies favourite cooking knife she has treasured for 30 years after our demise. The sturdy knife was no match for a green coconut and Daryl. Daryl a volunteer from the Philipines offered to show Maggie how to open a coconut. She not only failed to open the nut but snapped the blade.
Coconuts do not grow in Uganda for some reason but Maggie had asked some one selling vegetables for a coconut 6 weeks ago. He arrived this week with a lovely bunch of coconuts he had brought from Tanzania. He was a bit disappointed when Maggie only wanted one but the others all turned up on the market so he had good business. You have to be careful what you say here as people are so keen for sales they will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to get you something. Strangely, on the market, stall holders often refuse to sell you poor quality items but take you to a competitors stall that has better ones. Presumably they feel that in the long term you are likely to go back if they show concern.
This week we had the monthly meeting of the Chronic Care team. This is supposed to happen every month but is often cancelled and poorly attended. I suggested we put review of allowances as an agenda item to encourage attendance. This worked but a meeting scheduled for 10.00 did not start until 11.00.All meetings start with a prayer then there has to be laborious reading of the last minutes which have been written in great detail. The real business does not start for a good half hour. We did have some useful discussion. I had persuaded Maggie to make a banana cake as people here had never heard of one in spite of the fact they are surrounded by bananas and eat matoke most days. The cake was cut with due ceremony complete with photos! Every one seemed to like the cake and a short speech of gratitude was made. Cake has been ordered for the next meeting.
On Friday we made a rare trip out to see a patient with HIV who had not been seen for 9 months. He had had a stroke and could not get in to the clinic. His treatment supporter regularly collects his medication. He lives about 12 km from Masindi right in the bush. We travelled by special hire taxi. As we did not know exactly where he lived we had to ask a couple of people, the last of whom turned out to be his sister. We arrived at this hut and were invited in to meet the patient. He was lying in a small room on a single bed. He could not see out of the window and obviously very rarely leaves the bed. I was greatly surprised when he greeted me in perfect English. He evidently used to be a lecturer in agriculture at the local college. He had had a devastating stoke and was obviously trapped in the hut. He was remarkably cheerful but I could not imagine how he passed the time. He had no books, no radio and seemed only to have his aged sister for company. Unfortunately his blood pressure was very high and he is a candidate for another stroke. We started him on treatment but he will obviously need monitoring .On the way back to Masindi we called at the local health centre and asked that they check his blood pressure and keep us informed. I will be pleasantly surprised if that happens but it is what should happen and one of the reasons I am here to improve primary care.

Mince pies in Masindi

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
New Year’s Eve, like Christmas, was very low key. We managed to watch a few episodes of Green Wing on DVD before falling asleep! We were determined to make the most of Chris’ day off on New Year’s Day and hired a car plus driver. On a previous trip we’d spotted a church on a very remote hillside about 10 miles from Masindi. This turned out to be a catholic church built by Polish refugees in 1945. By coincidence, as a result of VSO using Chris’ profile for fund raising purposes in the UK, we received a very moving letter from an elderly lady who had been one of those refugees. She had been one of many Polish families sent to the Russian Syberia in 1940 soon after Stalin’s Army crossed the Polish border. She spent 20 months there in a labour camp surviving starvation and very cold weather, though many did not. Eventually Stalin agreed to release prisoners from camps and jails to form the Polish Army. Her father and husband were fighting with the British Army; their families were sent to safe camps in various parts of the British colonies, one of them being Masindi. Her letter describes the five years of life in the camp at Masindi as being very simple but happy times.
As well as the church, they had built their own houses of quite a unique style amongst the trees and also a school and hospital. On her request we took lots of photos to send to her.

On our visit we were fortunate to arrive when there was a service in full swing. We were made very welcome. It is one of the few churches around which still uses the traditional instruments for music for the services unlike Masindi where they use electronic equipment and microphones at 5 a.m.!
The afternoon was spent having a lazy swim and food at the Kinyara Sugar Factory social club.

As we are feeling more settled I am beginning to enjoy the surroundings and have even surprised myself at becoming a bit of a twitcher! We have a beautiful view from the house across to the hills. We now have some wicker to sit on the terrace and watch the subtle changes of the countryside. Very early in the morning (yes, even I have been known to witness it on the odd occasion!) there is a beautiful sunrise with mist down in the bottom of the valley. It is always sunny though sometimes hazy. At times it is very clear but, whenever I look, I see something new. The bird life just in the garden is amazing. It’s quite hard trying to do the washing up with binoculars and bird book in one hand! I get quite excited when I see a bird for the first time and even more excited when I can actually identify it. Just the other morning I spotted a Northern Black Flycatcher, an African Blue Flycatcher, a Village Indigobird, several Speckled Mousebirds, a ‘Greenish’ Yellow White-eye, a Pin-tailed Whydah, several Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu and a Fork Tailed Drongo! I am not disheartened by the fact that, according to the book, they are all very common here!

The highlight of the week was a parcel arriving from Sheila in Duns containing delicious homemade mince pies. They were slightly battered but that didn’t detract from their deliciousness! So, thank you again. The internet has been abysmal for three weeks over the Christmas/New Year period. We are just beginning to catch up on e-mails but want to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2008. Don’t forget, the spare room is now up and running! We thought we’d got rid of the bats with the flood. They’re back, but don’t let that put you off!

Maggie

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