Leaving Uganda

So, after nearly half a year, the difficult time has come to leave Uganda. What an experience, something I will remember forever. So many memories, so many great times, lots of new friends and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come here.

Thanks for everything Uganda, you'll be missed.

Outside the college

Huge rafting in the Nile!!

Handing over the equipment from the fundraising

The chaos of downtown Kampala

Being schooled in the art of tyre rolling

Hanging out in the market

Good times on the motorbike taxis

Hiking to Anatosi's village

I quite like the story behind this one.

Anatosi is a great guy who LIDEFO assigned to come and clean the floors etc at the house once a week. After a short while, we became great friends and he'd teach me Lhukonzo (the local language for Kasese) and we'd hang out kicking the football around the compound. He is saving for his college fees and to buy animals to keep at his family's village

One day I asked him about his family, where they live and what it is like. He told me about how they live on a hillside, the whole family under one roof and have to hike to harvest their crops. The hike involves about 4 hours of steep climb, a few hours harvesting the crops and then about 3 hours hiking back.

He told me he thought I'd never manage it. And so it was decided, that yes we would go to his family's village to spend a day hiking and harvesting crops with his family. In the end, a massive day - and he was right about how steep is was. But a fantastic experience, hard work, amazing scenery and such a great family which I had the very fortunate opportunity to meet.

Having some yam before heading off on the hike

Anatosi and his sister leading the way

Harvesting the beans!

Anatosi's grandmother, so welcoming without even exchanging a word

Anatosi's family line up for a family portrait

Completing the fundraising!

A massive thanks to everybody who helped out by donating on the Just Giving website (see the story at www.justgiving.com/cameroninuganda). Every bit counted and it's thanks to you guys that we managed to hit the target! By mid May, we were able to start putting the money to good use and seeing the results.

The computer lab was the main result of the fundraising - the Liberty College computer lab now has 12 computers which the students use on a daily basis. All courses contain an element of computer tuition, as well as the specific computer courses in different software programs and also hardware repair and maintenance.

Me in the computer lab with some of the computers from the fundraising

We were also able to purchase quite a number of universal power supplies (UPSs) for the college - most computers are now connected to these which has many benefits. Those computers are now protected from the fluctuating and unreliable power supply and it allows users to finish what they are doing and save their work in the event of a (common) power cut. Plus, many power cuts are only a few seconds long which means users aren't affected at all.

In addition, by sourcing the computers cheaper than originally thought, we managed to also purchase some additional equipment for the college. There were some items which the college were repeatedly hiring, so it made sense to purchase these - in the end saving alot of money for the organisation. The items included a public address system (speaker, mixer and microphones), a laminating machine and an additional set of football uniforms.

Definitely the most rewarding part of coming to Uganda. And of course, part of the promise was that I'd shave off my hair if we reached the target - see the results below!



Before



Going...

Going...



Gone!!!

Roadtrip to Rwanda!

Nothing like a good roadtrip! The trip to Rwanda was another great one with some cool times....and with Koen, Kendra and her brother Yannick we had a good crew. Great to see some of the differences between Rwanda and Uganda too - especially the lack of obvious corruption, the state of most roads, the hilliness of the country, but with some cool similarities too like the friendliness of the people.

The land of a thousand hills lives up to it's name

Hiking in Nyungwe national park

Stunning waterfall in Nyungwe national park

On the edge of Lake Kivu, great spot for a swim!

Queen Elizabeth national park

Hippos!

One of the most satisfying weekend activities would have to be doing a self-game drive in a national park, absolutely fantastic. As simple as renting a 4WD and heading off into the park, after a few times you know where to go for the best chances at spotting the different animals. And with Queen Elizabeth national park only half an hour away, there were plenty of opportunities.

Lion cubs decide to come and play on the road infront of us
 as dusk approaches

A crested crane, the national bird of Uganda

Uganda v Senegal: World cup qualifier

Awesome times at the Uganda v Senegal match in Kampala. Really good to see so many people getting in the spirit of things - and huge celebrations when Uganda as somewhat underdogs equalised the match with 5 minutes to go

Face painting and shirts ready, heading off to the game

And they score!!! Big times at the game

Fitness training and Sports Day



Always good fun when you ask the students to invent their own stretches

It was great fun running a weekly fitness training session for the students at Liberty College. Not that I had much to show them about fitness! But there was a need to show them how to stretch before games, as otherwise they just hit the football field straight away every time.
Some classic times and always lots of laughter. And sometimes in 35 degress celsius.

Fitness training each Monday

The Liberty College sports day was a great event. Even including the pre-planning session:

Me/Tim: so which sports do you want to have at sports day?
One of the students (after some serious thought): Eating competition

In the end, we must have had about 15 events, some better than others. I don't think egg throwing has ever been so hard to explain...the event was even cancelled and we tried it again after lunch.



Students in the long distance race, Liberty College sports day

Waterfalls and Crater Lakes

The countryside in Uganda was made for exploring. So that's what we did, including a weekend of waterfalls, crater lakes and chimp tracking. The scenery was pretty spectacular and getting around mostly by motorbike taxi (one trip was over 1 hour long) was also a highlight

Nothing like a shower under a waterfall

The colobus monkeys - cute!

Chimpanzees, the closest relative to humans were surprisingly difficult to track. They were up in the trees when we found them and the guide had even warned that we would have to leave in 10 minutes if they didn't come down. But lucky for us, they must have heard him and decided to hang out on the forest floor for a while

Friends come to visit!

Definitely a highlight were the different trips which friends took to come and visit. Best described with photos, the main visits were from Tim, Alex, and then Richie, Pete and Jani

Tim and I persevere with a game of dominoes in yet another power cut

Tim attempting to promote frisbee in Uganda

A great dinner with Alex, with Tim impersonating an animal in headlights

Alex and I enjoying a good night out in Kasese



One of the best roadtrips ever - Tim, Richie, Pete and Jani. Highlights include being pulled over by police, constantly having to ask for directions to Bwindi, the self-drive safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park (including a "fruitful" stakeout), attending the college debating session, roadside food vendors, the state of the car as it limped back to Entebbe airport, some good times out in Kampala and Kasese, a cool night by the lake in Lake Bunyonyi reminiscing over the days gorilla trekking, and plenty of other good times.



Hiking in the Rwenzoris

What better way to celebrate Easter than to head to the hills! Not any old hills....these are the Rwenzoris, otherwise known as Mountains of the Moon. Bordering with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the main peaks even boast permanent snow and glaciers, requiring ice axes and crampons to achieve the summits. Hard to believe when it's 30-something degrees celsius down in the town.



Anders looking alot less tired than I am

Anders and I left the summits for another time, but had a fantastic two days hiking through some the steep terrain.













A well deserved lunch, with some kids in the background
hoping to join in

It was pretty amazing hiking past the small houses scattered over the hills with their crops outside. Others also had to hike like us to reach their crops, sometimes hours away from their house.











Some stunning views of the valley below

The Mountains of the Moon