Day 1

After traveling from 4am til 8pm at night (including a 1hr flight and 8 hours flight, as you would expect we were very tired! I think some people were able to sleep during the flight but others were just too excited for the trip ahead. The in-flight entertainment was amazing – 50+ movies to choose from and snacks and drinks offered every hour (I have only traveled on budget airlines so this was a real blessing!)
We arrived in Entebbe airport at 7.45pm and traveled from there to the local catholic guesthouse. After a bit of room sorting we got settled. The rooms were basic hostel accommodation but perfectly ok, we were all so tired I don’t think it would have matter where we were sleeping!

Day 2

Waking for breakfast at 6.30am, we packed up the bus while watching fruit bats fly overhead, with some of our cases on an open pickup truck (tied on with tarpaulin and string! we were a little concerned!) and left at 7.30am to start our 8-9 hour trip to Soroti. During the trip there was so much beauty to see, some of us actually got a sore necks from looking out the window for so long but it was definitely worth it! We passed through Kampala town centre and we amazed to see fuschia painted shops and open market stalls selling the fresh fruit. There were many cars and bicycles all fighting for a space on the road and traffic lights that were horizontal rather than our vertical light pattern! How strange but quite a good idea too. After Kampala we passed through various villages, schools and churches, all so unique and different. There were plenty of children during the journey, all smiling and waving, so special and carefree. We stopped during the trip to pick up some tasty samosas for lunch break (John’s idea) and what a great idea, they were so nice, I had 3! We also stopped at a hotel in Jinga, the source of the nile, very briefly for a much needed toilet break after about 3 hours on the road with crossed legs!
We continued our journey and traveled through Mbale town, which was very pretty and much less busy, but still had lots of shops selling all you could want, many Paint shops for some reason! They must really like painting things!
After this we continued to travel in our bus through more villages, with the scenery getting more rural and picturesque with fields of tea, rice, sugarcane and bananas…such diversity and lush greenery (from the recent rains). I’m when the documentary is ready you will be amazed by the beauty of it all.
We arrived at Soroti around 5pm, a little tired and achy but happy for the week ahead. Soroti itself is a small but busy town with many shops and people.
Our first real impression was a car with blaringly loud music and people handing our leaflets as they drove by, I thought it was adverts for a concert or disco or something…but it was for a company marketing clean safe water and (I think) tablets that purify the local water. Saying “don’t drink unsafe water”. This was so refreshing to see. What a great idea.
We arrived at The Soroti Hotel and after a bit of fuss we got our room keys. I think we were just relieved to have a space we could call ours and relax after such a long journey. The rooms were very nice, I didn’t have high expectations in case it was very basic but it was a good as some 3 star UK hotels, which was a really pleasant surprise. Each room had a balcony area, mine with a view of the surrounding countryside. Really lovely.
We had dinner at 7.30pm, after another bit of fuss, but I think we were all happy with the meals we received and again we were so hungry by that stage that it didn’t really matter so much.
Most of us phoned our families after dinner and personally it was nice to be able to let my mum know all was well. Some of us were called upon to do our video diaries for that day, which I think we are getting used to doing, if a little daunting at first, I found it hard to remember what I did and felt but I think it will get easier . There was a heavy rain storm during that evening also, which was a great experience if a little slippery to walk in flip flops! We went to bed tired but content at around 8.30pm.
NB – on first impressions Uganda is a very beautiful country. The towns are a more rustic version of England with similar shops and things going on but in a very different setting. A blend between the past and the present. With modern and basic living entwining throughout.

Day 3

We enjoyed fresh fruit and would you believe a full English breakfast minus the bacon at 8am together in the outside but covered seating area. During our breakfast we saw what we think was a dung beetle, although I think it could easily have been a child’s wind up toy from the way it was moving, it even looked like it was made from plastic...amazing.
We had a meeting after breakfast to sort out our plan for the day and John shared from the bible on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. How Jesus was tempted by power, food and to test God. He talked about how this related to our trip and that we have a lot of power being from the west but we need to be guided in how to use this for good, also that we will see a lot of need and we need to be wise in how to respond to this in the right way instead of trying to fix it with giving money or what we think is the right thing. We need to be sensitive to each situation. How we are going to see hunger when we have plenty and also become frustrated with seeing the lush and fertile land and next to this the starving children, what injustice. But how to turn this anger to righteous anger and action. Also that we can provide food to the people of Uganda through our projects but they cannot survive on bread alone, they need the full life that Jesus brings to complete the picture, so we are to be ourselves and share this with the children and adults we meet, as with physical food they will get hungry again but with spiritual food (the bible) as well they will never hunger and God will provide for them also. I think it was very good for us to be reminded of this, for our first day of work in Uganda.

In the morning we went for our first visit of the Global Care centre where we will be based for the week. It was lovely to see it in real life, after seeing it in photos many times, it’s never the same. We had a really nice welcome from Anne, the centre manager for Global Care Uganda and Steve who is the area manager also. We were introduced to the Ugandan staff and volunteers and felt very welcome. After a tour of the site and some discussions with Anne & Steve, we confirmed each team’s plans for the week. The Children’s activity team (including myself) went to a local primary school (which we have sponsored children at) in the morning to experience some Ugandan lessons, one group went to an English Lesson and the other to experience a Relationships/Sex education lesson. Both groups said they enjoyed seeing how school was for the children of Uganda. The children were so welcoming and kind to us, always smiling and interested in who we were (staring at us in amazement) this mini bus full of Europeans! We must look quite strange. After the lessons we joined up to take part in Physical Education (sports) which was very energetic as you would expect at any primary school I suppose..too tiring for me, esp in the midday sun, but some of the group joined in and really loved sharing in this with the children. It was nice to show that we are not just there to take photos but because we are interested in them as people. During their afternoon, they split into two groups, one going to a local families home to talk about sponsorship and their life, the other organizing various games and activities at the centre for the children and teenagers that had come.
The Medical team spent time at a local hospital, I think they all were quite challenged from the experience but pleased to be able to see the situation even if painful to see people with aids and long term illnesses. They returned at lunchtime to discuss their plans for the week and the issues that had been raised during this initial visit.
The Building team spent their day buying materials for the work to come. Travelling to town and back several times and moving equipment into place. I believe they will start with doing the inner flooring and ceilings and then move onto the electrics also.
The Media team traveled with all the groups to film and photograph the experience as part of the documentary.
The IT Team – Liz (from GC office) spent her morning in the local bank changing peoples extra spending money and sorting out all the accounts for the trip, which is a big job with 27 people and teams buying equipment etc and as you can read, I (Laura from GC office) spent my morning with the children’s team and afternoon writing this blog (for the past 3 days diaries) I hope I have remembered everything!
You can see I know much more about the team I was with, but hope to find out a bit more from each team with our debrief at the end of this day.
We returned to the hotel for 5.30pm, for a 7pm meal.