Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Friday saw us arriving at MAF Guesthouse at the back of four, after driving aimlessly about for a good fifteen minutes. Boda-boda men are hopeless at actually knowing where anything is. When we arrived, the vast majority of the volunteers were already there - four of them had been there since the previous day. We spent a little while catching up and talking about our projects and teaching and things. Everyone commented on how tanned I am when I first got in (SCORE) even though I thought I was fairly pale. We were given our first Western meal for about five weeks, then we had our talk from our country doctor, Dr Stockley.
Doc Stock's talk was…interesting, to say the least. He began by talking about the three main causes of death among bazungu (white people), which are car accidents, murder and HIV/AIDS. He then went on to tell us the seven rules that we must live by while we're here. They are:
1. 1. Hakuna Mutatu! - Mutatus are the taxis here. They are licensed to hold fourteen people maximum, but I think the fullest mutate I've ridden in so far had about twenty five people in it, or something ridiculous like that. Bit of a tight squeeze. But yes, his rule is to avoid mutates as far as possible.
2. 2. Sheer common sense. - Don't be an idiot. When travelling at night, or on nights out, always stay in a group. Don't split up. If you were in the UK, you wouldn't walk out of a club and get on the back of a motorbike on your own with a man you've never met before, would you? Exactly.
3. 3. If you're tired, go to bed. - Seems pretty straight forward, really. But he has a point. If I'm ever feeling rough or if I'm missing home or if I'm just generally tired, sleep ALWAYS makes me feel a hundred times better.
4. 4. When you get diarrhoea, take the tablets he's given us. - We're going to get it multiple times over the course of the year, he says. Something to look forward to…not.
5. 5. Malaria. - In Uganda, if you have a cold or if you're feeling unwell or anything at all, the locals will say that you have malaria. If you go to the local clinic with a fever, they'll say you have malaria. The fact is that if you take your anti-malarials (bloody doxycyline and I do not get on) as you're supposed to, then you're not going to get malaria. End of.
6. 6. You will get Bilharzia. - Bilharzia's a wee parasite that you get when you go swimming in Uganda. Every body of water here has it, nowhere is 'bilharzia free'. It's easily treatable though, so we've to enjoy ourselves and go swimming and things, and then go for a bilharzia test six weeks after the last time you went in the water. Simple.
7. 7. HIV/AIDS. - Be so careful, and be sensible. There's such a high percentage of people with HIV and AIDS here in Uganda.
Stockley kind of reminds me of an English Gregory House.
Once he'd gone, we all got ready, had a few drinks then headed out to a club called Iguana. It was a good night, from what I can remember, although I paid heavily for it the next day. I honestly don't think I've ever been so hungover in my life, it was hideous. It was cured when we went to the American Club and had a swim though.
Sunday, we all went our separate ways…well, almost all of us. Fern and I, plus the two boys living down in Kabale, were staying an extra night. All eighteen of us had a meal at Café Javas (best place for food in the whole of Kampala, I'm sure), then said our goodbyes.
The four of us that were left headed to Tubendi Safari Lodge, where we spent the last night of the induction weekend. We went out to an oh-so-posh Chinese Restaurant called Nanjing and had more amazing food - I'm sure I put on a stone over this weekend, but I don't even care because we don't get food nearly as good as this back in Kabembe!
On the Monday, we headed to the big market in Kampala, and I've honestly never been in such a hot and closely packed place in my life. It was like stepping into another world, and it was stressful trying to keep our bags from being opened and things being stolen. Even then, I managed to have a fair amount of money stolen. Kampala can be a complete nightmare.
It was a relief to finally get back home to Kabembe, although the weekend was amazing!
- comments