Uganda: Dawn to Dusk

Dawn to Dusk

----the first of seven days on the road.

Today our intrepid team left our comfortable guest house in Kampala for parts north and west and into the mountains of Kampala. Our bus left at 6 a.m. and picked up the Inner Wheel ladies along the way.

From Uganda 2011

Have you ever seen twenty-four ladies, their luggage, cameras, equipment, snacks, and bottles of water packed into a bus that holds twenty-four passengers??? You would be proud of us!

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A prayer starts our journey followed by beautiful singing by our hosts, which puts us all in a serene and calm mood. Through the streets of Kampala we travel, watching the residents begin their day. By 6:30 a.m. some of the children are already walking to school; mothers are cooking breakfast on their little fires outside their homes; people are heading to work by foot, taxi-vans, and “boda boda’s” (motorcycles).

We stop briefly at the equator and watch draining water turn counter clockwise in the South and clockwise in the North. Soon it is noon hour and we were only 9 or 10 kilometres away from our destination.

From Uganda 2011

Turning off the highway, the road soon becomes narrower and narrower twisting every few yards. Our competent bus driver continues to miss the large potholes as we bounce along. It soon becomes apparent that we are lost in the depths of Uganda!!

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We later learned that, should we have continued along that path, we would have ended up in a swamp. Skillful reverse driving and a turn around, set us back on the path we had just travelled. Fortunately telephone contact with the organizer at the site saved us -- and a “boda-boda” was sent to our rescue.

We arrived at Isingiro at approximately 1:30 p.m.! The parents and children were patiently waiting and we were greeted with clapping and such happy faces. The children entertained us with the Uganda National Anthem followed by The Children of Uganda.

From Uganda 2011

It brought tears to our eyes to hear those sweet voices sing with such gusto and pride. After playing with the children -- they are so amazed at seeing us blow bubbles -- Nancy, our team leader, explained about the contents of the bedkit -- a Gift of Love from Canada. Pictures were taken in a classroom on a dirt floor with open windows and a cracked wall. But the wonderful smiles, joy, and excitement of the children made up for the basic surroundings. Some even clapped spontaneously after their pictures were taken.

A wonderful supper was hosted graciously by a retired professor and his wife, outside in their spacious garden. It was interesting to hear that they had spent a year in Winnipeg -- and never got warm!!!

Soon we were back on the bus and travelled another two hours to our lodging. We arrived at 7:30 p.m. -- tired and hungry but so happy that another 500 children would have a “good night’s sleep."

Uganda 2011

Carol Rolph
for the Uganda 2011 SCAW Team

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