Monday 4 Jan 2010
Easy start to the day after a good night’s sleep after the long flight. Started the morning with a trip to “Bulrushes”. This is the hospital /nursery for kids age 1 day thru to 1-2 years and some older (3-4 years) with special needs such as blindness.
For lunch we went to a mall changed money (1800 shillings to 1USD) and ate at a cafe that served western food
Next went to KPC (Now called Watoto Church) and had orientation on our programme. Bits about what to do and not do. Highlight was however watching the next travelling choir having their last rehearsals before embarking on a world tour for 6 Months.
Caught up with Andrew our host from last time. He was in great form but no half hour speech on the meaning of life. Still has not found a wife but has dreadlocks
Caught in a traffic jam leaving KPC. Makes living in Greymouth a breeze knowing we only have to wait 3 or 4 cars at a time and they are all on the right side of the road.
Early to bed
Tuesday 5 Jan 2010
Yeah first building day. Early start to get to Suubi 2 our building site and to beat the traffic and to travel 30 kms out of Kampala.
Arrived at the same time as the other Kiwi team who are building a classroom for the primary school at Suubi 2 and together loaded bricks for each building site. We also had to move our smoko shed down to our site. Our site consisted of a concrete slab and not much else.
Suubi2 was purchased in 2007 and totals 20 hectares. We are building house Number 82 with about 75 houses built there already and 32 houses occupied. They are also building a small primary school on the site and about 100 houses. It basically adjoins the existing Suubi1 site which has about 180 houses as well as primary and secondary schools and medical and administration areas
A quick lesson in bricklaying and we were in to it. With the help of very patient local help work started and continued at a brisk pace and laid reasonably level and plumb. A blind man would love to see it.
Rain arrived just before lunch so work stopped while a torrential downpour fell. Interesting was that when the rain cleared it was lunchtime and the local help disappeared to have lunch
Caught up with Moses the Bus driver from last time. As usual he was resting but jumped when yelled for him to get up. How these guys remember our names etc after 2 years amazes me considering they see a group every two weeks.
Finished laying bricks at about 2.30 pm with 8 rows done (as many that can be laid in a day)
Best sight on the way home: A 1.5 metre high fridge sideways on the back of a scooter.
We’re being well fed. Tea tonight was pumpkin soup, beef lasagne, bean lasagne, boiled coleslaw, & potatoes, followed by fruit salad & banana cake.
Pete Hines got up this morning to go to the toilet and stepped onto a wet floor. Something in their bathroom had leaked during the night and covered the floor about an inch deep. Took about 20 mins to mop up. The staff put it down to the way the shower hose had been left.
Pete White had some problems explaining to some of the younger members on how to go about shifting bricks. The kids thought it was the same word without the f in it!!!
Kathy Hines realises that having any previous experience brick laying isn’t that much of an advantage – tried to rely on muscle memory doesn’t work either.
Marge Tefft now has a permanent seat in the front after discovering that Ugandan roads and traffic don’t combine well with her inner ear. She now has a new appreciation for the skills of our driver, Hussein.
Amanda Ewan has a huge appreciation for proper toilets. She and some of the other females enjoyed the privilege of a hole in the ground with a part open door. The smell wasn’t as bad as what it could have been. The Ugandan’s do long drops well – in fact Kiwi’s could learn a thing or two from them about how to do it. However the road going past the door was more of a worry due to two bus loads of Aussie arriving at the same time!!!!
Last trip we had Liz Picken on the trip and one of her saying when it was mentioned to her “ that Rome was not built in a day” she said “it would have been if I was in Charge”. This trip we have “Little” Liz her daughter Kathy Hines who argue with the local foreman over the length of their lunch break.
The kids met a guy at the traffic stop who asked where they were from and when he was told we were from NZ said I am the same “two eyes, two ears, wide nose but different colour skin”
Wednesday 5 Jan 2010
Another good day on the building site with lots of bricks moved and laid with the external walls up to the window tops on 3 sides and the internal walls to half way. Had lots of local help today with the other Kiwi team going home at lunchtime so inherited an extra 12 workers. Made life a bit easier for the younger and oldest members of our party. Jack played football on the building site with half a dozen local kids.
Stopped at the top of Suubi 1 on the way home and looked thru the secondary school. It is school holidays here so now kids around but place was immaculate. It has been extended heaps over the past two years with more classrooms and teachers houses as well a boarding facility for children from the other villages.
Drove past the new baby home at Suubi 1 which is going to take all the younger kids at the start of the induction into the Watoto system.This is going to replace Bullrushes in Kampala which will become a more specialised neo natal unit and for kids with special needs. It is due to open in the next two months and is about 4 to 5 times bigger than the existing “Bullrushes”
We then went down to the production unit where they have 4 areas of operation. There is a vehicle repair garage, engineering workshop , joinery factory and a clothing factory.
We met Albert who is the engineering workshop supervisor who when we told him we were here two yours ago and gave them an arc welder he almost jumped into my arms with pure gratitude. It was great to see that it we are really appreaciated. They are currently building stuff for the new “Bullrushes” and for the extra classroom including desks chairs and cots.
It rained quite heavily on the way home. It cleaned the streets nicely with all the rubbish being washed down the gutters. It also meant that the street were relatively empty of traffic (relative terms)
Cheers Heinzey
PS There were supposed to be some pictures with this but couldn’t get them to upload.