THE BREAK IN
I haven't been here less than a week and have been robbed. Not to such a great extent; thankfully my money passport and flight documents are all accounted for. Only my iPod and portable speakers have been taken. Phil on the other hand was not so lucky. As she padlocked her big suitcase, full of clothes, cash, documents and electrical gear, the theifs simply took it all and ran. Not the greatest times at the moment.

That day we had visited Kampala the capital city. We had rushed around in the baking heat visiting the post office, exchange bureau and other cites; including the vast pit of tiny cramped buses that is the city taxi rank. By the time we got back Phil was all but exhausted and feeling slightly ill from the heat, and I was spent too. The door was locked as normal and nothing looked out of place. So we went straight to sleep.

When we woke up things started to piece together, until we realised Phil's entire bag was missing. The following sequence of events happened in a blurred frenzy as I couldn't accept what had happened, hopelessly lost in a limbo of denial. Everyone from CALM came along with Hannah and Ali to assess the damage. Pretty much all the electrical items had been taken, while curiously our money, passports and clothes had remained.

After making a report to the local police station and making our statements, it seems apparent to the neighbours in the area that a certain individual had been coming to the area and chatting with the locals. He was later seen with a very large black bag. I wonder whom's! After a failed attempt with the sniffer dog we were utterly exhausted, demolished and bewildered.

Only 5 days in and we had hit a real low. This is not representative of the Ugandan people. But desperation, poverty and hunger drives everyone and anyone to seize an oppurtunity. It seems that we had been targetted for a while, simply for being white and therefore rich. But despite this we are not going to let it stop us. There are klids depending on us and we aren't going to let them down.

Today we have spent with Martin and Bosco, our driver, around town picking up malaria tablets and other essentials. And gradually we will be able to piece together everything that Phil, who's been incredibly ressilliant and determined throughout all of this, has had stolen from her. We topped the day off with a beautiful meal in the foodcourt overlooking the golf course. We would not have been able to bare this ordeal without the heroic gestures of kindness and support from our families, Hannah and Ali, and of course all of the selfless dedicated members of CALM Africa. They have taken every measure and every precaussion to ensure that we feel safe and surrounded by people we can trust.

This has been a giant hurdle - but it is by no means a barrier preventing us from doing what we came here to do. And we shall see it through to the end.