Wednesday 07 April John Morris
Hi Guys, John here are dropping in.
This morning we sat down to a fine breakfast with a very continental mix of beans on toast and German sausages, this mix was no doubt inspired by the fact that we are sharing the Hotel with our German cousins.
Talking about our German cousins, for all you sports fans out there here are last nights International scores. The UK are winning one nil against Germany in the European pool championships (well done Megan) the Germans are leaving us soon so on a technicality that makes us European champions... I think. As for the World Championship pool the UK is currently leading Uganda two one in a very close and tense competition (well done Karl and Chris).
After breakfast we left the confines of the Hotel for Bukeka School outside Mityana. We boarded our long suffering but loyal bus thankfully again driven by my personal nomination for World Champion rally driver of the year, Rogers. Yesterday this fantastic driver was a sight to behold getting us back to the Hotel down a long road that we were beginning to believe was impassable because of a huge rain storm washing it away... well done Rogers. After what was by Ugandan traffic standards a fairly uneventful journey we reached the School.
The School is set in the most beautiful surroundings imaginable with stunning vistas of tea plantations and lush green jungle looking valleys. As we got off of the bus we were a little surprised to see the kids running around in their underwear, but we soon learned that this morning was P.E. morning and most of us joined in as best as we were able. As always we were outclassed by the Children by skill and speed.
After P.E. it was down to work, firstly we went to a nearby house to collect the play equipment we needed. The neighbour had kindly stored the equipment in his garage... yes garage, it was a very nice house. We have a roundabout, a swing, a climbing frame, a see saw and a slide. Once Livvy the Director of the School showed us where to put the equipment we began to dig the holes to place them in. This is always a mixture of hilarity and cursing as we all again try to use the African digging tools, not easy to master but very good once well practiced with. This day was hot, hot, hot even by Ugandan standards so every one, male and female chipped in with the digging of the holes and every pair of hands was needed. At this stage a local Master builder turned up to show us amateurs how it is done, I personally got a rollicking for daring to put hardcore stones in the bottom of the holes off of my own initiative. This was a rollicking that I took graciously from this ex kickboxing man-tank (I wonder why)? However I did feel good that after some trial and error he then went and put hardcore in the holes too, did I gloat about it? No way, I didn't dare! With the Master builder leading the way we got the equipment into position and cemented in so it would be safe and secure for the kids. The master builder was a great help to us as we struggled along through the day although his face was a picture when Chris broke one of his digging tools! We all laughed... once the builder was out of hearing range and not before!
Once the donkey work was done we got a chance to interact with the kids once again being thrashed at football... again. The pitch is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and it is amazing to see these kids just jump through the fence at full pace like a cat chasing a mouse with no fear of the wire at all. We feel even more nervous as they do it as it is almost always us that have sent the ball flying out in the first place.
In the afternoon we were treated with the usual fantastic hospitality that we have almost come to expect now. We were kept supplied with copious amounts of fresh fruit which tastes so much better than our over the counter fruit I must say. We saw a young kid eating some sugar cane and we were intrigued to know how it tasted, after we asked we were treated to the most amazing display of what could only be called swordsmanship as this young charge set about with a huge knife stripping, chopping and cubing the sugar cane up for us. The cane actually tastes very nice and we were equally impressed and terrified with the knife skills especially bearing in mind that this child was only about 6 or 7.
Later in the afternoon Eric noticed that we were all melting in the sun like cheap ice creams so we decided to call it a day at that point, but as usual much was achieved and much fun had.
As we sat down to relax for the evening I wondered if I had caught too much sun that day, this was answered when I went to bed and turned out the light and saw my face light up the room like a night light oh well this as they is Africa!
Speak soon
John M
This morning we sat down to a fine breakfast with a very continental mix of beans on toast and German sausages, this mix was no doubt inspired by the fact that we are sharing the Hotel with our German cousins.
Talking about our German cousins, for all you sports fans out there here are last nights International scores. The UK are winning one nil against Germany in the European pool championships (well done Megan) the Germans are leaving us soon so on a technicality that makes us European champions... I think. As for the World Championship pool the UK is currently leading Uganda two one in a very close and tense competition (well done Karl and Chris).
After breakfast we left the confines of the Hotel for Bukeka School outside Mityana. We boarded our long suffering but loyal bus thankfully again driven by my personal nomination for World Champion rally driver of the year, Rogers. Yesterday this fantastic driver was a sight to behold getting us back to the Hotel down a long road that we were beginning to believe was impassable because of a huge rain storm washing it away... well done Rogers. After what was by Ugandan traffic standards a fairly uneventful journey we reached the School.
The School is set in the most beautiful surroundings imaginable with stunning vistas of tea plantations and lush green jungle looking valleys. As we got off of the bus we were a little surprised to see the kids running around in their underwear, but we soon learned that this morning was P.E. morning and most of us joined in as best as we were able. As always we were outclassed by the Children by skill and speed.
After P.E. it was down to work, firstly we went to a nearby house to collect the play equipment we needed. The neighbour had kindly stored the equipment in his garage... yes garage, it was a very nice house. We have a roundabout, a swing, a climbing frame, a see saw and a slide. Once Livvy the Director of the School showed us where to put the equipment we began to dig the holes to place them in. This is always a mixture of hilarity and cursing as we all again try to use the African digging tools, not easy to master but very good once well practiced with. This day was hot, hot, hot even by Ugandan standards so every one, male and female chipped in with the digging of the holes and every pair of hands was needed. At this stage a local Master builder turned up to show us amateurs how it is done, I personally got a rollicking for daring to put hardcore stones in the bottom of the holes off of my own initiative. This was a rollicking that I took graciously from this ex kickboxing man-tank (I wonder why)? However I did feel good that after some trial and error he then went and put hardcore in the holes too, did I gloat about it? No way, I didn't dare! With the Master builder leading the way we got the equipment into position and cemented in so it would be safe and secure for the kids. The master builder was a great help to us as we struggled along through the day although his face was a picture when Chris broke one of his digging tools! We all laughed... once the builder was out of hearing range and not before!
Once the donkey work was done we got a chance to interact with the kids once again being thrashed at football... again. The pitch is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and it is amazing to see these kids just jump through the fence at full pace like a cat chasing a mouse with no fear of the wire at all. We feel even more nervous as they do it as it is almost always us that have sent the ball flying out in the first place.
In the afternoon we were treated with the usual fantastic hospitality that we have almost come to expect now. We were kept supplied with copious amounts of fresh fruit which tastes so much better than our over the counter fruit I must say. We saw a young kid eating some sugar cane and we were intrigued to know how it tasted, after we asked we were treated to the most amazing display of what could only be called swordsmanship as this young charge set about with a huge knife stripping, chopping and cubing the sugar cane up for us. The cane actually tastes very nice and we were equally impressed and terrified with the knife skills especially bearing in mind that this child was only about 6 or 7.
Later in the afternoon Eric noticed that we were all melting in the sun like cheap ice creams so we decided to call it a day at that point, but as usual much was achieved and much fun had.
As we sat down to relax for the evening I wondered if I had caught too much sun that day, this was answered when I went to bed and turned out the light and saw my face light up the room like a night light oh well this as they is Africa!
Speak soon
John M
