Everyday challenges in Uganda

Firstly, we'd like to apologise for the lack of blog last week. It was a bit of a crazy week, with Janet's birthday, Emma leaving, a trip to the hospital and missing children .... so there is a lot to update you on this week.

This week we have been experiencing the difficulties street children encounter when trying to settle back into a 'normal' life. There were two separate emergencies this week. Firstly Ronald was rushed to hospital by his school, after swallowing a nail. It later turned out that he also had a fractured arm following a fall whilst playing the previous day, which he hadn't reported to teachers. Shortly after recieving the news that Ronald is going to be fine, we heard from Magwa school that Richard had gone missing. On Wednesday morning, Stephen found Richard on the streets and took him back to bugembe to discuss the situtaion. Although Richard hated life on the streets, he finds it very difficult to settle down and when he feels he has done something wrong, his natural instinct is to run away. Although we returned him to school, and had some long negotiations with the principal, it doesn't look like he is going to settle and we are now facing a big decision as an organsiation of how to deal with the situtaion from here on - finding the best solution for Richard.

Richard in the S.A.L.V.E. home

The other disappointing news this week is regarding the house hunting situtaion. Despite a few promising leads on houses thus far, they keep falling through and we are facing a time constraint of finding somewhere before the children return from school in April. At the moment it looks like our plans to move to a bigger house are going to have to be put on hold temporarily.

In constrast to this week of challenges us interns spent the weekend on a mini safari break to mark Janet's birthday and our last weekend with Emma before she returned to England. We have had some really amazing opportunities so far to explore Uganda from wartorn Gulu in the north to scenic national parks of the south west. Our trips have been hugely enjoyable but have also enabled us to get a more complete picture of the geographical, religious, politcal and socio-cultural factors that shape the lives of the Ugandan people that we interact with on a daily basis. Almost three months into our internship, we are really starting to feel like we're getting to grips with the complex intricacies of this society that has become our home.

In particular, our trip to Gulu was an amazing opportunity to see an side of the country that we have heard a lot about but for a long time has been very inaccessible to visitors. In 2006 the LRA declared a ceasefire on the war they had been waging in northern Uganda for the previous quarter century. Gulu was one of the strongholds in the north, where many refugees fled to during the conflict, the town and the northern region generally are now undergoing a period of recovery. The scars of the conflict are very evident on the landscape but the town is actually a very pleasant place to visit. The people are very firendly and there is a lot of evidence and progress and people's determination to move on. Change is slow but steady.

In contrast to Gulu, the southwest of Uganda is a tourism hub. The national parks have long been hailed as some of the best in Africa and although they took a turn for the worst during the Amin years, they are now back to being close to their former glory. The landscape in the south is possibly the most stunning throughout Uganda. The jagged peaks of the Rwenzori mountains burst through the Savannah plains, occassionally broken up by deep gorges and crater lakes. The beatuy of the south west has long attracted tourists and the legacy of colonialism is nowhere more notable.

The plains of the south west and some of the wildlife in the national parks

Despite the many challenges in our daily lives here in Jinja, we are having an amazing time overall and are learning from all our experiences here, good, bad, fun and sad. We're really looking forward to all the experiences yet to come in our final month here!

Laura & Janet