This story doesn’t describe the normal trip you’ll read about from us at The Departure Lounge. This wasn’t just another trip, it was a volunteer trip that had been at least 2 years in the making. I’ve lived in a developing country before and travelled to others, so the poverty and lack of human resources did not surprise me as it did others. But still this trip affected me deeply. The main purpose of the trip was to build classrooms at Sunrise Community School, about 6-7 hours North East of Kampala the capital of Uganda, and about 25kms from the Kenya border. I was travelling in a group of 10 people, 8 male and one other female from Australia, all of whom I’d met for a few hours in preparation meetings in the months before going, yet only one of whom I knew relatively well. Of the 10, 3 had travelled to Uganda and Bwugogo (the village where Sunrise is) before, to build two classrooms and a small office at Sunrise. Since then the other classes had been run out of mud buildings that continually fell apart.

We arrived into Entebbe Airport an hour (depending on traffic) out of Kampala on Lake Victoria, and had a few hours running errands/eating before heading north to Mbale, the 3rd biggest city (if you can call it that) in Uganda. The traffic was crazy, there were people everywhere, trucks, cars and motorbikes squeezed around each other, and blew a lot of thick black smoke. The city itself was crowded, and thanks to the heat, not the nicest smelling place, markets are packed with a lot of people just standing around. I’d say Mbale is a medium sized town, and it was a 5 hour drive there (after 20 hours in the air) so we arrived in time to go to bed! The next morning we spent preparing for the village, buying necessities such as bottled water and toilet paper, as well as rice, oil, coffee and tea etc. The next hour or so took us into more remote areas and ultimately to Bwugogo and the house of Taopiska and Andrew, our local host for the next week and a bit. We two girls were put in a room with a bed smaller than a double (to share) and barely enough space to put our luggage on the floor. The ‘boys’ shared the other bedrooms and our hosts along with their housekeeper Grace (and her two year old Stella) were at either end of the house in what I think at other times would be used as storage spaces.

Photo Top to Bottom Left – Gloria, Anna, Rose. Right – Vicki and Stella (holding Caitlin’s hand)

From the moment you stepped off the bus you were surrounded by enthusiastic local children, my hands were being held, or my top or skirt grabbed as next best options. Whenever we were at the house , there were children touching you, climbing on you, wanting to be with you, and have your attention. They were adorable children, and there were a number we became especially close to; Stella (mentioned above), Vicki (the daughter of a neighbour who came around to help Grace with cooking etc), Anna (who lived across the road), her older sister Rose and Gloria (who with her younger brother, Junior, lived with Anna as their mum was nowhere to be found and the dad was trying to make his way in Kampala). But as much as they were gorgeous and lovely, for the next 8 days whenever we were at the house the children were all over us (I’m not talking a few children, I’m talking probably about 15-20 at any one time). As much as this was lovely, it was hard not to want some space after a while, but then once we’d left the village I missed them, and still do.

Upon arriving at Sunrise we were welcomed with a number of songs by the students. The previously built classrooms stood in all their glory, although they needed a paint touch up. Luckily we had a professional painter in our team. The slab for the new classrooms had already been laid and the local workers, headed up by foreman Mike, were starting on the walls. The 6 days we were onsite mostly consisted of creating lines of 15 or so meters and throwing bricks person to person to get them from the large pile where the truck had dumped them to where they were accessible for the workers to lay them. We also had the opportunity to mix cement, lay bricks for walls and chop down trees from the local area (with a machette) and carry them back to the site (on foot) to be used as scaffolding. It was hot and for those of us (me) who sits behind a desk all day it wasn’t the easiest work, but Caitlin (the other girl) and I took it upon ourselves one day to build a step from broken bricks for the old classrooms; we just hope it’s still together when the team head back in two years. We left the building at the rim beam stage, a term I learnt in Uganda, which is a beam of cement capping window frames and ultimately balancing all the walls and the weight of the roof to be put on top of it.

We were able to help construct the metal rods that held the cement together for the rim beam and watch it all come together before we had to leave the village. The frame and roof, along with theverandah and rendering will be completed by the local workers, with the money supplied through our fundraising. We expect it to be done before the children head back to school at the start of February. During our time at the school they held a meeting with parents and local council people which gave us a better understanding of what our work meant to them and the issues they faced, and before leaving the village we dedicated the new classrooms and promised to come back and finish the school.

Daily life in the village was interesting, eating chapatti with Nutella for breakfast, amazing pineapple for lunch, and different meat stews along with rice and mashed cooking banana for dinner. We found a local stall that cooked meat skewers (fresh) and hot chips, and cold soda was sold nearby so we made several trips there just for some piece of home. Bathing and laundry consisted of a daily trip to the river 5 minutes walk away, where the kids would jump in with us as well, or stand around watching and laughing. The water was not exactly clean, nor warm. But after being on site, in the heat and getting red mud over you from the bricks you didn’t mind so much. All part of the experience! The final part of the experience I feel it would be remiss of me to not say, but fear it may not be what you want to read, namelythe ‘bathroom’ experience. Let’s put it simply and quickly – there were drop (pit) toilets at the house, and they certainly weren’t my favourite thing, but you adjust because - well, nature calls. Luckily I was able to avoid using the ones at the school which were drop toilets with no doors… I’ll leave that topic there.

After leaving the rim beam stage in progress, and giving donated clothing to the people at Andrew and Taopiska’s house we headed back to Mbale. It was a mix of emotions as we said goodbye to these beautiful people we’d become so close to, yet we were heading off on the next part of our adventure – and a shower and flush toilet. We spent the night in Mbale before heading off to Sipi Falls, the memory of the lovely shower and flush toilet would have to last me another day. We spent the day at three different waterfalls, walking through gardens and on small paths to get up close to them, I’ll admit I didn’t do all of the walks… From our accommodation we could see one of the waterfalls, and over a beautiful valley that seemed to stretch for miles and miles. Our rooms were huts built from traditional materials mostly, and the lack of electricity and internet connection (we’d had it on and off in the village) forced us all to relax a little. Several of us continued our 500 game which would become an enjoyable time passer, even while on the bus, over the next few days (I’ll note here I was on the winning team more often than not throughout our time away!)

After Sipi we headed to Jinja, a rather touristy town in comparison and the source of half of the Nile river. After a long lunch and waiting for Clarice, a very special girl from Melbourne doing an amazing job in Uganda, we didn’t end up seeing the actual source of the Nile, but instead we saw the difference Clarice is making in Uganda. Globally in 2005, according to UNICEF, there are 132 million orphans, 2.5 million are in Uganda (1.2 million orphaned by AIDS). To give it some perspective, Uganda is about the size of the state of Victoria. Clarice runs Care4Kids orphanage in Jinja (http://www.isaaustralia.org.au/OurWork.aspx), with about 80 children in her care, the youngest just 18 months. She is only in her early 20’s, and is supporting herself financially; the children and orphanage are run through child sponsorship mostly. The children here sang a number of songs and danced for us as well. The little 18 month old decided to be my friend while we were there… I struggled to hand him back!

From Jinja we headed to Kampala for the night, before heading to Murchison falls, a drive that took about 5 hours. Once inside the national park it was bumpy and hot, and there was a risk of putzi flies (a dangerous fly!) getting into the van, so with windows shut and no aircon, it was not a fun ride for someone who suffers motion sickness. But once at Murchison Falls’ Paraa Lodge listening to the calls of Hippos only a few meters from your room and watching the baboons come up pool side, you forget the drama of getting there. We went on two game drives while at Murchison Falls and a river cruise. We got to see a lioness, giraffe, hippos, crocodiles, elephants, ‘Pumbas’, a jackal, monkeys, buffalo and many different birds and deer. It was my first safari experience, and one I won’t forget in a hurry.

After two nights at Murchison we got to visit Murchison falls (the actual falls) before we went back to Kampala, to unwind, debrief, relax, and of course buy souvenirs. In Kampala we also got to visit Watoto’s Suubi Village. Watoto is another orphanage, with a difference. I won’t go into detail; feel free to check out their website http://www.watoto.com/home They house several thousand orphans in the villages and baby houses. The wonderful Peter who accompanied us on all of our travels, and headed up the Uganda side of things as far as the building and transport, used to work for Watoto, and now runs Border-less travel, a tour company with a difference for Uganda and Kenya (http://www.borderless-travel.com).

There are no words to adequately sum up this trip and explain the life changing difference it made in my life. So I’ll finish by saying thank you for your interest and your support. The team headed up by Andrew (in Australia) and Peter will be heading back in 2014 to build the last few classrooms and offices at Sunrise. I personally would love to go again and hope that circumstances allow me to. If you would like to know more, see more photos (I have thousands!) or be involved in anyway, please don’t hesitate in contacting me. Wanyala Nabi (Thank you very much).

Classrooms of Uganda