all my photos

well this is my lovely Mbale, on the right, this is one of the main streets which as you can see has a beautiful view of the mountain which i would like to remind you that i climbed as the pictures prove. the one on the left is near the top, me going up a type of ladder which was really cool and the one in the middle is me looking very pleased to be at the top, nina is next to me, my flat mate, peter is behind me, he is just here for 6 weeks staying with relatives here who i know and vincent is the guy that helps run the project that everyone in my house works with, he also does the mountain trips. he is so cool and he thought i was very funny, he could of sold me at the bottom of the mountain for 30 cows, which is very good, but half way up my value decrease to just one cow! because of my lack of fitness!! i would not be useful. he thought my husband could take a second wife to climb the mountain everyday and i could just have the children!! don't think i am up for that!!
things are going well here, am slightly sweaty at the moment as i have just been playing squash in a random court which was great but i am not very good though, well i have two years to improve!!
work is going well, i am really getting into, i am planning all the life skills sessions that either myself or the teacher will be doing with the girls.
let me know what you are all up to
xxx

my house

This is my house which i think you can see is very nice! I live here with a British guy called Robbie and two Dutch girls called Nina and mirella. They are lovely and I get on really well with them all. all the houses around here are in compounds so they are really safe and secure.
today I am off to TASO which ia a huge charity that works with people with HIV/AIDS,they do testing, treatment, counseling and also run education program's. So we are going to see what input they can with our project. This afternoon I am going to the village with the girls that I live with, they work for another charity called jenga and they are running educational women's group and today they are doing the session on HIV/AIDS awareness, so i am going to see how it is done and pinch some ideas. Will try and get some more pictures up soon. Jx

Hello everyone
Just want to say sorry for not blogging for ages, the internet access has been down at the house most of this week.
Well since I have got back from Kampala I have been up to a few things, our house has been lent a bike which was great so I could cycle to church on Sunday which I discovered is technically quite difficult in a skirt, I think I managed it without the whole of mbale seeing up the skirt!! You get a lot of attention for being a muzungu (what white people are called) here anyway but being one on a bike seems very funny to people I pasted by.
I have been doing resources for the project this week as the guy that I am working with is away on a training for this week, so I am just planning part of the life skills programme that we will teach once the programme is up and running.
The most exciting thing that I have done this week was yesterday climb a mountain, mount wanle! It was an amazing day saw the most amazing country side, spectacular view, waterfalls and even a few monkeys in the distance. Physically it was a really hard climb, we were out walking for 7 hours and I am felling it today in. I am walking around like an old lady! which everyone else I finding very funny. we live at the bottom of this mountain and I have a view of it out of my bedroom window and you can see it from where ever you are in Mbale. When we got back to Vincent (the guy that yook us up the mountain) and Graces’, grace had prepared us a traditional Ugandan dish which tasted amazing and was well appreciated by us all. I was in bed by 9.30 that evening!
I feel I should tell you a bit about where I am staying. I am living in a really nice part of the town in the outskirts, the prime minister has one of his houses a couple up from us! I have been very blessed with the house, it has got a nice garden for the three dogs that I live with to run around. I am getting used to them but I still find them a bit scary, they are essentially guard dogs so are meant to be scary! We have running water and electricity, that does regularly cut out though, normally in the evenings, a couple of times a week. We don’t have TV which is really nice so am really lots, I may come back really intelligent!! I am here for 6 months defiantly and will see what happens after that. I am living which really nice people who I have a good laugh with and keep me entertained.

I am going to Saturday to see the kids club that the year out team run which is in the area where I will be working and where we have bought the land for the project. So I will get some photo for you so you can picture it a bit better and will fill you in more on the project then
Jx

I am in Kampala

I got here on Tuesday after a long, hot 4 hour bus journey, in that time though you just have amazing view of the country going from very extreme possible and at a crazy speed, I tried to work how fast we were going and gave up, it was defiantly more than 100mph most of the way on these bumpy tiny roads!
have been visiting the projects in Kampala of Oasis and have had a few meetings, aren't I posh! The projects are great and my best time has to be when we spent the evening at the half way home with the girls, we had dinner with them, they taught me lugandan and then did an hour long performance, which involved lots of singing and dancing and they made me dance! I looked so bad compared to them! They were such lovely girls and have faced so much already in their short lives.
the other exiting thing that happen was we had avery small car crash last night! dont panic, i am fine, was a very slow speed, a taxi, like a minibus was going past and another on tried to over take that one when there was blantly no room and went in to the side of us and the other taxi, the driver then ran off and left the taxi and we went down the the police station with the drunk police officer! it all got sorted and the owner of the taxi will pay for the damage as it was a project car, and by the way i wasn't driving! it was an exciting evening.
am heading back to mbale tomorrow which will be nice to get back to a less hetic way of life

I am in Kampala

I got here on Tuesday after a long, hot 4 hour bus journey, in that time though you just have amazing view of the country going from very extreme possible and at a crazy speed, I tried to work how fast we were going and gave up, it was defiantly more than 100mph most of the way on these bumpy tiny roads!
have been visiting the projects in Kampala of Oasis and have had a few meetings, aren't I posh! The projects are great and my best time has to be when we spent the evening at the half way home with the girls, we had dinner with them, they taught me lugandan and then did an hour long performance, which involved lots of singing and dancing and they made me dance! I looked so bad compared to them! They were such lovely girls and have faced so much already in their short lives.
the other exiting thing that happen was we had avery small car crash last night! dont panic, i am fine, was a very slow speed, a taxi, like a minibus was going past and another on tried to over take that one when there was blantly no room and went in to the side of us and the other taxi, the driver then ran off and left the taxi and we went down the the police station with the drunk police officer! it all got sorted and the owner of the taxi will pay for the damage as it was a project car, and by the way i wasn't driving! it was an exciting evening.
am heading back to mbale tomorrow which will be nice to get back to a less hetic way of life

my first sunday here

well i went to my new church which was great, it is really basic, its near the edge of the slum area where we will be setting up the project. i got introduced at the front and was welcomed into the church. the worship was amazing, it is so good to be around people that are so happy and joyful and can sing really well! the one thing i learnt is that church is very long and it is that way for a reason,when the perosn preaches or even gives a notice they have to repeat it about 3 or 4 time to get the message home, i left a little early as martin one of the pastors from the church who is working with us on the project took me back to town and i had my first boda boda experince, which a bicyle taxi, sitting sideways on the back of it, which was slightly scary but fun. i then got caught in town in a massive rain storm and could not go any where for over half an hour!
i went to a bible study last night which is held mainly for ex pats which was good, and was great to meet so many people. had a power cut at the end of it so came home and went to bed and i am still so exhausted at the moment. i travel down to Kampala tomorrow to see the projects there and meet the staff, that is if i get on the right bus tomorrow morning!!

i have been bitten!

as you may be able to tell i am not up to much at the mo. just doing the settling in thing which involves alot of sleep, i have got my house confirmed for the next 6 months which is great.
am off to church tomorrow for the first time which should be good but long!
i am off to Kampala next tuesday to look at the projects there and meet the rest of the staff.
i went to the best hotel in Mbale today for lunch and the meal only cost £2!! crazy!
after being very pleased with myself that i have not been bitten at all, i am now covered in bites which is great! just waiting for malaria to set in now!

i am here

hello everyone,
i have made it Uganda, i got here last sunday and came to Mbale, where i am living on the monday. it is such a great place, its a small town so i shouldn't get to lost. i had a great tour around the town yesterday and saw all the essential places. i am living in the most amazing house with a guy called robbie and two girls who i havn't meet yet. i think i will be here for a few months until i decide what i am going to do.
the guy dave i am working on the project with is great, really funny guy and has such vision for the project. this week has been spent reading loads for info, all the research and project propsal. exciting things that have happened so far, i have seen the land where the project is going to be, am making friends, i have been out every night so far, hard life hey!! we had a power cut, these are quite regular and then had a bat in the house in the dark, very scary!
am really settling in well, miss all of you lots
KEEP IN TOUCH!!!