A final Uganda post

A final Uganda post

Picture: The #tfbloggers at the source of the Nile on Sunday. From left to right: Odiira from PAG Uganda with Shane, Katie from Tearfund, me with awkward hands, Bex, Liz. This might not be my final Uganda post, but I don’t have any others specifically planned, hence the title. I have said this before, but…

Ugandan food

Ugandan food

I’m now back home, but I’ve still got a Uganda blog post or two to go. Today’s is about food. OK, so this is essentially just some pictures. Below: First of all: hand-washing. Before every meal that we had in the different villages we would be given a piece of soap and have water poured…

On our way home

On our way home

We’re travelling back today, and probably won’t have a lot of internet access, so here’s one I prepared earlier… — At times on this trip I have asked myself whether we have only been shown a sanitised version of reality. In other words, have we just seen carefully pre-planned set pieces from people who are…

A cartoonist in Uganda

A cartoonist in Uganda

Astute readers will note that there have not really been many cartoons or indeed any kind of drawings from Uganda this week. I could make excuses. Like the fact that there has been so much to see that I have preferred to spend my limited blogging time putting up pictures and posts rather than sitting…

Fly Emirates

Fly Emirates

I like this picture. Partly because it makes me smile, but also because it sums up the small business culture here in Uganda. UK football is huge here, and its associated sponsorships appear on TV continually. So why not get some free advertising for your phone top-up business? There are no benefits for poor people…

Live goats on bicycles

Live goats on bicycles

Time to put my degree in transport (you can see the certificate if you don’t believe me) to good use, and write about how people get around in Uganda. We experienced Kampala traffic on the first morning (pictured above) but most of the places we have been to have been rather more rural. The heirarchy…

A Ugandan church service

A Ugandan church service

Today we went to the church in Ogongora for the final time to join the people for a church service. The singing was amazing. I have posted a video (which may or may not work) which I hope gives an impression, but in summary it was full of joy and life. This is not something…

Hard lives

Hard lives

We were back at the village of Ogongora today. Some of the time was spent talking to people at the church – the photo above gives an impression of the surroundings. We drank tea and had food there too – I will write more about that another day. Today I talked to three people who…

At a Ugandan village

At a Ugandan village

Today has been quite remarkable. We had our first visit to Ogongora, the village in Uganda that we have come to see. There is so much to say about it, and I’d hoped to do some drawings, but technical woes and feeling generally overwhelmed means that not-particularly-eloquent writing and photos will have to do again….

On the road

On the road

Today we have travelling by road for most of the day getting to Soroti, our base for the week. I am tired and so am just going to post a few photos if that’s OK. I intend to draw tomorrow. The journey was hot, bumpy, and quite scary a lot of the time, especially when…

We're here

The bloggers have arrived in Uganda! I’ll do a proper update later today, but we reached the hotel in Entebbe just before 1am local time. We were up this morning for our lift to Soroti, where we will be staying for the rest of the time, but unfortunately our lift is yet to arrive. Traffic…

Flying

I’m spending just about all of today travelling from Essex to Entebbe. You can track the flight, should you be interested, here: BA 063. It sets off at 11.45, so no real need to track me this morning – I’ll just be in WHSmiths and getting a cup of tea. A reminder (I know, I…

Adventures

Adventures

I am going from one adventure to the next. For much of the last week we’ve been in Devon doing all manner of crafts and sport at the Ashbury Hotel near Okehampton. It was the second time we’ve been and I can thoroughly recommend it – see the Manor House / Ashbury website if you…

New avatar

New avatar

This is my new picture on my Twitter profile for the next few weeks. It is the ‘See for yourself’ Tearfund image that three of us have versions of for our trip to Uganda in just over a week’s time. You can see the complete cartoon via that link there. The tearfund.org/dave link takes to…

Going to Uganda

Going to Uganda

I have an exciting thing to write about today. In ten days time I am going to Uganda! (I think this warrants an exclamation mark.) The splendid cartoon above (not mine) helps to sum up what I’ll be doing, but in summary: I will be travelling with Tearfund, a Christian relief and development charity. Three…