May 13, 2013 - Time to go

Three weeks until l I return so time for the final chapter. I can’t begin to make sense of the things that have happened to me so will leave that for some profound future moment, should it come, and may be reflect on what I’ll miss and what I won’t. The things I’ll miss: • The babies of course though I’m ashamed to say that out of 25 babies I can name only the older ones and the ones who have been here longest. I hesitate to say the little ones all look the same but they don’t have so many distinguishing features – and some do come and go...

Mar 24, 2013 - My world is shrinking, but the end is near

My world has definitely shrunk since the new year. Part of my job here was to recruit Ugandans to the roles previously filled by British “volunteers” like me. I guess it’s a measure of success that all but one key position has been filled by a Ugandan applicant. But as I have watched the British staff leave one by one I am left as the only British person at Child’s i other than the three monthly rotational media volunteers. So we now have a Ugandan babies home manager (you may remember I fired the last one), social work manager, head of...

Feb 10, 2013 - Escape from Rwanda

I had a journal entry all ready to send a couple of weeks ago, attached these photos, changed screens and then discovered that the website was having some work done on it and I lost everything but the photos,. I couldn’t find the energy to redo it so this will be a potted version up to the point of my trip Rwanda, which was the most amazing experience. However, before I get to that, let me remember what I included in the lost version: It included a link to a recent video made by our media volunteer featuring the usual wooden performance by...

Jan 15, 2013 - Have a look at this video

A lot of you think I'm mad to stay on here in the light my more dismal and doom laden entries. Watch this latest Child's i foundation video and see how compelling and rewarding this work can be. http://ugandansadopt.ug/2013/01/katies-journeyfor-there-are-no-unwanted-children-just-unfound-families/

Jan 13, 2013 - Back from Christmas break, in the thick of it

Sue sometimes the grate and least things we do man doesn’t notice and deposite positively into you emotional bank account but i want to assure you that God has a detailed record and account of all the wonders you have been doing to this nation, He will truely reward you you children and children children will lacked nothing of values and blessed in the land of the living. thanks for having me here These are the moving words written to me by a volunteer social worker who left Child’s i Foundation last week. I came back here from Christmas...

Nov 25, 2012 - One mistake, two arrests and a lapse into corruption

Thought I’d use the journal therapeutically to work through the events of yesterday, it’s difficult to process them otherwise. I still don’t like driving on my own because of the ever present threat of a collision in the crazy traffic and the reaction of the mob that inevitably follows any traffic incident. Being mzungu ( white) stacks the odds on the mob verdict about blame and I have heard some disturbing stories about mob justice. However, as part of my attempt to live a normal life, I was leaving my tried and trusted routes to go and...

Nov 18, 2012 - Zanzibar, Goat do Roam not Cotes du Rhone

The holiday in Zanzibar was a wonderful experience, preceded by a very funny evening. The media experts at Chils’d i had been commissioned to make a documentary for Ugandan national television on the harmful effects of institutional care for children. I had seen the film before it was aired and it was very powerful, a young man telling his story since he had been institutionalised as a small boy and then talking to children currently in Uganda’s children’s villages, which are generally dreadful places. The Child’s i people involved had...

Nov 11, 2012 - A touch of paradise followed by two bad episodes

Before I start this entry I thought I'd make a suggestion to those of you who are looking to start the usual round of Christmas card writing and tokenistic present giving that you consider not doing that but instead making a donation to Child's i Foundation.There are many, many videos you could attach to a note, showing the work of the charity,all on youtube. The first of the links below is a general explanatory one, the second is me, in my wooden sort of way, introducing a videos for...

Oct 10, 2012 - Home and away again

I came home for two weeks in August/September. Like all the best clichés it seems like an awfully time ago; suffice to say I caught up with friends and family, revisited my house and garden and wallowed in the ease and order of it all: cars that travel in orderly lines and give way to keep it all running, an atmosphere that is not laden with smog and a good dose of sea air on the Isle of Wight and in Hampshire. I miss it all like mad but equally know that the old life is there, just waiting for me which is so reassuring. I was welcomed back...

Aug 18, 2012 - The worst of times; the very best of times

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster, with a series of awful things happening followed in quick succession by visits from friends Jane and Pam, and then by Peter ( son) and Charlotte ( step grand daughter) which have been a delight. Probably need to rush over the traumatic events but I do want to include them as they brought me as low as I have been out here and set the scene for the great times that followed. There are three events that I will mention. The first was my decision to go and see a doctor ( English, rude, arrogant,...

Aug 1, 2012 - A Long Good-bye

I have 2-1/2 more days left in Gulu and I have already started to say "good-bye" to people I have met. On Saturday morning I will head to Kampala for the weekend and on Monday morning begin my 2 day journey home. Although my head is telling me it is time to return to the States, my heart is telling me something quite different. I have absolutely loved my time in Uganda. I have learned many lessons, come to appreciate this most beautiful place and most importantly, have loved the relationships that have been built here. I said this in one of...

Jul 18, 2012 - Here is to Life Graphs and Safari!

It is hard to believe that this week is my last week in a Ugandan classroom. I have had some great days teaching though! It had been intersting to witness the education system here in Uganda. It is VERY different then the education system in the United States. The biggest difference is that the students here have physics and biology as a core subject (in addition to math, science, language arts and history). The second biggest difference is that in EACH and EVERY class, the teacher gets up in front of the class and lectures for 80 minutes,...