We're sad to say that this is officially our last blog as SALVE International interns out here in Uganda. Our four month stay in Jinja has flown by so quickly - although it's not been without its fair share of dramas, hard work, fun and excitement.

We spent most of this week wrapping up our internship and saying goodbyes to the many friends and contacts we have made out here .... and most importantly to the SALVE children, who we took for a fun-day out on Friday. As we know how much the children all love swimming we decided to take them all swimming for the day and as the pool is situated right next to lake Victoria we also took the opportunity to go on a boat ride across the lake. The day was a huge success and everyone went home throughly soaked and exhausted (the children only briefly left the water for food before making a rapid return!).

We have both learnt a great deal during this internship and it has given us many opportunities to meet and interact with some really interesting and inspiring people. There have been many great times had with the children, making breakthroughs with research projects and adventures out to the villages. There have been the inevitable difficulties and harder times. Working with children coming from very difficult backgrounds can be very rewarding but also very challenging and we have experienced both angles over the past few months.

We have also experienced the challenges of working for a small scale newly-formed NGO and the various trials that they face. Struggling to maintain good relations with schools, other NGOs and at times the children and trying to establish ourselves firmly within the community.

This internship has been an invaluable experience for us both, giving us the opportunity to learn a great deal about the day-to-day functioning of a small NGO and to be able to input into its progress. SALVE has a bright future ahead of it and we hope that the work we have been able to carryout whilst here will be continued and contribute towards that future.

We are sorry to say goodbye and we wish SALVE international all the best in the future.

The interns