On Friday the 18th of October Ali and myself were scheduled to go to Jinja for the day to help out at one of the school labs. I awoke that morning quite early (around 5:30am) to find that Ali was awake as well. I had a very rough night of constant tossing and turning. Since we were both up we decided to go for an early morning walk around Kyebando before getting ready to head out to the Jinja. We had a good walk around the village almost getting ourselves lost in the many different closes. Just before we arrived back home from our walk it started to rain. I fully enjoyed getting soaked by the tropical shower.

After that little excursion we quickly got ourselves ready then headed out to Jinja. Ali bought a Monitor, which was now reopened (the monitor was shut down due to an article they printed stating false information about a Ugandan helicopter being shot down by Kony rebels). The trip to Jinja was quick and upon arrival we took a special hire to the school we were to be working at. The school is situated on the very top of a big hill with an amazing view of Jinja town, Lake Victoria, and the source of the Nile. The day went by very quickly and before we knew it it was already 4pm. We departed from the school to the Source Café where we picked up 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies then finally made our way to PMM Girls school were I had to quickly fix their internet. We eventually departed Jinja around 6pm arriving back in Kampala around 7:30.

Arriving into Kampala we were slowed down to a crawl due to a large parade of people who were marching down the center of the road. They were soccer fans of one of the local clubs, which had just won the championship. Once we arrived we had a burger at Steers (closest thing to come to a Burger King out here) then took a boda boda home. Once at home I decided to take a brief nap before the evening as I was extremely tired. It turns out I slept longer than anticipated and ended up being awoken by Murad who was waiting for me to come out to Kabalagala. I quickly got myself somewhat together then headed out.

After playing some pool and dancing it up a bit we headed home for the night. At Murad’s house he gave me a package that arrived for me at VSO. It was a bunch of cd’s sent to me from a very thoughtful little American birdie. A million thanks go out to this person for the wonderful gift! You know who you are!

The next day Murad and Me went into the office where we met up with Ali and Meddie. We were planning on having a BBQ on Sunday so we needed to do a bit of planning. We organized what food we were going to bring etc and who would be coming. After getting everything organized I went back home to catch up on some sleep and prepare for another night on the town.

The next day I awoke early (even after the late night) at Murad’s and got Hassan to boda me home. Once home I quickly packed a day pack full of stuff for the BBQ and got ready to go. Meddie arrived at our house with his fiancé Honnie and his brother Ahmed. We drove into town together where we then went our separate ways. Meddie took his group in his car out to Entebbe while I met up with Murad, Jamie, Natasha, and Remi at DV8 where we would drive to Entebbe in a special.

We arrived at the beach to find that Ali and Ahmed had already started cooking up the food, and were doing a very fine job of it. After cooking all the food we played a game with golf balls before eating. After the game (which I had won!) we ate like kings. We had bbqed beef, chicken, corn, and potatos. As well we had chapati’s and fresh passion fruit/orange juice that Honnie made. For dessert we carved up a big watermelon that everyone had to force down due to the fullness of his or her bellies. After dinner we played another game on the beach to the setting sun. My group ended up loosing this game and we were all forced to do 10 pushups.

By this time it was starting to get dark and the moon was coming out. We took a few pictures on the beach then headed home.

Once in Kampala we went to Punchline where we watch the Lord of the Rings and sat and hung out for a few hours after which time I headed on home on a boda.

Monday at work Ali and Me found out we were going to be going to Hoima on Tuesday to help out at the school lab out there. Tuesday we left on the afternoon bus to Hoima. The bus was very large something similar to a Grey Hound. It was quite old yet appeared to be in fully working order. The bus filled up slowly with both people and packages. The isle was soon filled up with very large bags probably filled with used clothing or food. Once all the seats were filled on the bus people then began sitting on the bags in the isle until finally the bus was officially full.

We departed Kampala around 2pm heading west. The bus traveled at extraordinary speeds even on corners. It was also passing most of the traffic on the road, when doing so would blow its load horn as warning. The road we were traveling on was gravel that did not seem to slow down the driver any. As we arrived in towns of somewhat significance the bus would come to a stop for a few minutes will the locals of the town would attack the bus with their food they wanted to sell. Chicken on a stick, beef on a stick, roasted banana, chapattis, water, juice, and anything else you could think of they were selling. After giving the people a few minutes to purchase any food they may want to eat the bus would then head off again until the next town.

About an hour and a half into our journey it started to rain quite heavily. The bus continued to trek on though as if nothing had changed. As we continued down the road we came into an area where the road was being worked on. The road was less gravel and more mud, especially now that the rain was falling. The big bus continued to push on through the rain. The mud on the road now was beginning to build up now and was probably a good foot deep. As our bus was pushing up a hill still at high speed it began to loose traction and eventually began to slip. The rear of the bus began to slide out on itself and in no time the bus had nicely slide itself 45 degrees blocking most of the road. The bus was now at a complete stop in the middle of the road stuck in the mud. The driver attempted to rev the engine, but each time he did the tires would just spine and the bus would slide backwards ever closer to sliding down the bank beside the road. This scared the driver a bit, causing him only to give enough gas to the bus to let it stay running. Every time the engine revved even a little bit the bus would slide a little more backwards. As the people in the bus were beginning to get a bit restless our hero came to save us. Since this road was under construction there was a lot of heavy equipment around, one of which was a grader. The grader operator plowed off all the mud in front of the bus leaving a bare road for us to drive on. Once complete we received a bit of a push and away we went, saved by the road workers.

After that ordeal it seemed that the bus driver must have been upset about the delay and now wanted to make up the time he had lost, thus he began driving even faster than he was going before. Luckily for us the rain had stopped coming down and the roads were relatively clean, granted I was still fearing the driving.

We eventually arrived in Hoima at around 6:30pm. We found our way to our hotel where we enjoyed a meal then met up with Kizza Ali who was the IT coordinator for the school we were going to visit. After dropping our bags in our room he took us on a tour of the town, at the end of which I was able to play a few games of pool. That night we headed off to bed early, as Ali and Me were both tired out from the drive.

The next day we spent at the lab fixing problems with machines, dusting and other maintenance type work. That night we called up Jamie and asked what he was doing the next day. Hoima being only 1 hour away from Masindi inspired Ali and Me to pay him a visit. Jamie said he was free for Friday so we agree to come.

Friday morning we finished up a few things in the computer lab then headed off by Matatu to Masindi. It seems we were becoming prone to vehicle troubles as half way to Masindi our Matatu was forced to stop due to the engine overheating. Luckily we stopped right beside a water pump, which allowed us to fill up the bus with water for coolant. We arrived in Masindi at around 2pm. We checked into the Masindi Hotel and made our way to meet up with Jamie. He showed us a bit of the town as well as the office where he works and some of the things he has been working on. He then took us to his house before we headed back to the Masindi Hotel. That night we ate some fine Chinese food then watched the movie Three Kings.

The next morning Jamie joined us for breakfast then took us to the taxi park where we caught a Matatu going to Kampala. Once in Kampala I was informed VSO was in a volleyball tournament that afternoon and that I would have to go immediately if I wanted to play. I left downtown for the VSO office without even being able to drop my bag off at home. We played at the Concern NGO office where we went 3-0 to reclaim the volleyball trophy. After the volleyball match Murad and myself headed back to his house were we cleaned ourselves up then went on to Chris’s house. It was Chris’s 50th birthday so they were having a small BBQ for him.

The next day Murad and Me headed into town to get a bite to eat and to the office where we checked our emails etc. After which I finally headed home (first time since leaving for Hoima).

A few from the Y2Y's going away dinner and a bunch from my training in Jinja.

Sunday morning I woke up early so I could get home from Murad’s and pack for Jinja. On my taxi ride home I got a call from Allen who told me she wanted to leave a little earlier. I told her I hadn’t been home yet so she told me to come by the office and we would go together, I would then pack when we arrived in Kyebando then we would depart. We left Kyebando around 1:30ish on our way to Jinja. On the way we stopped and bought some Ganja, which is roasted banana.

The ganja was very tasty yet very sweet. Once in Jinja we were shown the school where we were going to perform the training, then brought to our Guesthouse where we settled in for the night. That night I prepared some slides for the next day to spruce up my training session.

The next day I found that the addition of slides to my presentation really helped things out. When I train I sometimes talk to fast, plus with my Canadian accent it makes it hard at times for the students to understand. After the first day of training Ali and me went to Jinja town to check our email (internet in the lab was down). We went to the Source Café, which is owned by some Muzungu who has now settled in Jinja. After checking my email I bought some chocolate chip cookies at the café. These cookies I had last time I was Jinja and absolutely loved them. Anyway that night we returned to the guesthouse by boda boda (in Jinja the boda boda’s are generally bicycles not mopeds) to a nicely prepared home cooked meal. Since the slides worked so well the first day I created some more for day 2 of the training then head off to bed.

The next day went as well as the first with the students really excelling at what I was showing them. After training we returned to the Source for more cookies, this time though they informed us they had no chocolate chips thus were unable to make cookies. They did say though that they were getting more chocolate chips in on Thursday so we should come back then. Once again we returned to another home cooked meal, and a night of me creating slides for the next day.

The rest of the week of training went roughly the same as the last two days. I would train from 9am to roughly 3 or 4 pm. Ali and Me would then either head to town or back to the Guesthouse for dinner. After dinner I would then prepare more slides for the next days presentation. On Wednesday Henry took us to the source of the Nile after the training we had. Wednesday was also Uganda’s independence day, although people aren’t overly celebratory/patriotic. We did a bit of a ceremony at the session but overall nothing major. Thursday night after training and helping Ben (IT Coordinator at PMM Girls School) setup his Linux server Ali and Me went to the sunshine hotel for dinner. We had a delightful steak dinner.

Friday marked the conclusion of my training, Ali and Me got one of the students to purchase 3-dozen chocolate chip cookies from the source for us. At the end of the session we gave the students the cookies as a treat. This week of training was again a very tough week, but in the same respect it was very fulfilling. What a pleasure it is to see your students really wanting to learn and to wishing you could stay longer to teach them more things. Eventually we had to leave and we headed on back to Kampala.

Upon arrival in Kampala I took a big rest because I knew I would be going out later that night with Murad. After a brief rest I headed out to meet up with Murad in Kabalagala. I met up with him at an Ethiopian restaurant were I got to try their food for the first time. Ethiopian food is very tasty. I ordered something like a beef stew, while Murad got a chicken stew made in a fine cut onion sauce. The meals come with a large plate (as big as the table) that is covered with a special type of bread. How you eat your food is to spoon your stew onto the bread, then rip off chunks of bread to dip or pick up your meat and sauce. After dinner I gave Murad some cookies we brought back from Jinja that he thoroughly enjoyed.

After eating we went out to play a bit of pool. Eventually the week caught up with me and it was time for bed. We headed on back to Murad’s house and were off to sleep right away.

Early morning (8:30ish) I received a phone call from Ben who was having troubles with his Linux and his Internet. I tried to help him as much as possible in my still very tired state. Eventually I think I might have solved the problem, either that or he realized I was still very tired. After my early morning tech support I ventured off into never never land once again. My dream I had was quite an incredible one, which I will explain below:

Prime Minister Jean Cretien made a statement in his final speech that he wanted to rejuvenate the boy scouts of Canada. To do this he wanted all former scouts to come back and help their former group by showing the benefits of being a scout to new youths. With this speech I was compelled to go back and help out on the recruitment process. To do so I decided to take a group of student’s to a far off island.

Upon arrival on this island some locals greeted us. They told us this was the island of many fruits and that we should eat as much as we can. We walked a bit off the coast and started climbing a grassy hill. After walking a few strides I noticed the many fruits the locals told us about. I first found a gigantic plum (the size of a watermelon), which I proceeded to bite into. The taste and flavors that erupted in my mouth were astonishing. After eating half of the plum I decided not to waste any more time and found myself a pear tree. I began to eat a pear right off the branch of the tree, once again being fully delighted by its tastes. As I continued to climb up this hill I managed to taste the flavors of a plethora of fruits each more enjoyable than the previous.

Eventually I got to the top of the hill only to find myself standing in the middle of a strawberry patch. Being the big strawberry fan I am I began picking a few and trying them for flavor. I think thought that I was beginning to be spoiled by all the fruits for the strawberries were beginning to taste a little watery compared to the rest of the fruits. Regardless I was still enjoying them. After releasing I wasn’t the only person standing in this strawberry patch I decided I better make some conversation. I asked who own this island. The person told me that it was a hippy named Daz who wanted to create a utopian island. I told the guide that he did a pretty good job. The guide then told me that they had just installed a bunch of brand new toilets because after anyone eats this much fruit they usually find themselves in need…

Somewhere around that point my dream ended. What can I say though I remembered so much of the dream, hell if this is what larium dreams are like, I must say, I do enjoy taking it! Anyway later that afternoon Isha came by Murad’s house as she is in for a few days. We departed together Murad and Isha going to Kabalagala while I was on my way home. At home I purchased myself some popcorn from the corner store, and also gave the lady who owns the place a bit of my hair cream. Last time I met her she was getting her braids taken out and said she wanted to have hair like mine, so I told her I would bring her something to help her do it. She was very happy that I remember.

Anyway later that night I met up with Murad and Isha at DV8 after which we preceded to Al Tarboush a Lebanese restaurant just below my office. Murad and Myself had our usual the burger special while Isha had some hummus. After eating we headed out to have a few beers and do a bit of dancing. When I arrived back at Murad’s house that night by special I was walking away from the special hire and I realized I didn’t have my phone or keys in my pocket. I ran after the special and told him I dropped my stuff in his car. I checked the seat only to find my keys. I had a suspicion that he was holding onto the phone so continued to look and look for I knew if my keys were in the car so was my phone. Murad heard what was going on and came down to join me. Eventually after the cab driver looked under the seat not finding anything I took a feel only to find my phone. I think he planted it down there knowing that I wasn’t going to give up. After getting my phone and keys I finally got to go to bed. On Sunday while Murad and Myself were catching some sun out by his house we decided to spend the day at the beach. We (Murad, Isha and Me) took boda boda’s from the bottom of Murad’s hill to Speke Resort Munyoyo. At Munyoyo we were blown away at the size of the resort, it looks very out of place here in Uganda, resembling a resort usually found in Mexico or some other tropical resort. Anyway we enjoyed the day relaxing by the water eventually departing around 5pm to go find some food. We ate dinner at AfriAsia where Murad was once again upset with the service he was receiving. After dinner I went home to get some rest before work the next day.

Finally had a chance to upload a bunch of new pictures from the last couple of weeks. You will find pictures from Kabale, Ndejje, and our river rafting expedition.