Ma and Pa's turn...

Arrived Tuesday at the safari rest camp, we had a meal and then relaxing on the terrace with a Club beer . . .  that is until the guy just came along and said that there is a hippo in the camp grounds coming for his night time grazing! The silhouette of an actual hippo against the lights of a tent is something I will not quickly forget.

We are finishing our time on Thursday after a mixture of experiences, and of course you only get experience by learning as you go.

A few things we enjoyed about Uganda:

• JENGA staff were welcoming and we were impressed with their service to the Ugandan church and the various ministries
• It’s been great to see Daniel again and he is really enjoying life and flourishing with the independence
• Pineapples in Uganda must be the best in the world
• Playing football with the street kids that CRO work with
• Ugandan church on Sunday – I had to give greetings from all at Ivy
• Seeing the Nile for the first time (the actual Nile)
• Nearly beating the boys at Settlers
• Dave the dog

Some things we will be happy not to experience again:

• Waiting – for everything
• Awful roads – it takes so long to go anywhere
• The heat (do people get used to it?)
• The Club next to Dan’s house – loud music every night, even louder at weekend
• Power cuts nearly every day
• Lizards in the loo

We visited a number of projects and ministries which JENGA is connected to, including the food storage facilities being built, the church in Mooni and the nutrition project at the hospital. The hospital was sad to see, often the patients were just lying on their beds and there was hardly anything by way of drips, instruments or indeed nurses. In the A&E department we visited to pray for whoever we could there was a girl who had been scalded on hot water and her wounds were open and would have been immediately dressed in the UK. We were allowed to pray with her and also for a boy who had been beaten up and had blood clots in his skull and had been unconscious for three days. There were patients in beds all close together seemingly just lying there.

In Namatala, the slum area on the outskirts of Mbale, where JENGA work in the community, we found many families in poor living conditions and a lot of people making waragi, the local brew, and several bar areas where men spent their days. Generally we thought there were many Ugandans with not enough or nothing to do all day.

I couldn’t resist joining in the football with the street kids on the local Rec, just played half an hour in the heat but great fun, a clean game and a spectacular volley which would have made me an instant hero apparently J

There is so much to tell – the 3-day safari we have just been on has been amazing, particularly the cruise down the Nile to Murchison Falls looking at hippos, crocs, elephants and other animals along the way.

We have one last journey on Thursday morning to a Rhino sanctuary on the way back to Kampala and then it’s an overnight flight home.

It has been great seeing Dan and supporting him during our time here, Christmas has seemed another world away as we have been in summer wear for two weeks. Sure I’ve missed loads off but you’ll just have to ask us more when we return.

Dave & Iris (Dan's Mum and Dad)

jengauganda.org