Well, what a day. I'm afraid still no electricity and therefore no Internet. This morning on our way to Bombo we stopped at the Sheraton 5*. It was our intention to use the WiFi that must be available in its foyer / lounge cafe. All international class hotels would offer such a service, right?
Not the Sheraton. Their wifi is only for residents.
I said "please? I want to pay you to use your wifi".
They said "no"
I then asked if I could use their business suite.
You got it. "only for residents".
After we speedily drank our expensive mango juice - which they were happy to take our money for and seemed quite pleased to serve to non-residents we left and began our day. Honestly Uganda sometimes leaves me speechless :-)
We left Kampala and set off for Bombo. A town some 25 km from the city. We were visiting a school that the team had been involved in setting foundations for last summer. It looks fabulous and will be completed next week after the glass goes in and a coat of paint is applied to the interior. We were given the customary school tour and Peter greeted every class and acted like an inspector asking the right questions and checking out the children's work. In seconds he had the children and their teachers eating from his hand; a true professional. Great to see him at work again. My children, all taught by Pete would describe him as 'a legend' and today he showed his years of addressing teachers and children is a skill not easily lost. It was a treat to watch - marvellous. We left the school and set off to see at first hand some of SPAU's projects. I have been here 6 or 7 times now and each time I come it never fails to stagger me and move me to a tear. Today we met some lovely genuine people who have fallen on hard times but have finally been given a chance. Uganda is full of people with no hope and no chance of getting themselves free of their poverty trap. SPAU works with single parents who have fallen into the deepest hole. It tries to give them a way out. It is a situation that most of us - european/westerners cannot comprehend.
I met 1 lady today who was sat outside her house (a mud hut), deep in the forest. The house was of the most basic construction. Mud walls and a grass roof without windows. Basically just some protection for when they slept and from the rains when they arrive. She was sat with her neighbour (a very elderly woman probably 65 years old although it is difficult to tell) and her 3 children all under 4. It was 35 degrees. The children were undressed. It was too hot to be inside the house, in fact too hot to do anything. 5 months ago the young woman was given 30 chicks by Spau. The idea of the project is that she will rear the chicks and additionally she will be helped by being given 50% of the feed. Then she is required to give back to spau a tray of eggs that they can then hatch and pass on to another. Her chicks grew and only 7 were hens so she sold the others to feed her family and to pay for feed for the hens. We sat and talked with her for a brief while and she was so honoured by our presence (we were in awe of her) that she started to run away to bring something for us. I managed to get a translation for her actions and was told that she was going to get some eggs for Peter and myself as a gift. This young woman has literally nothing in the world and yet still is probably the most generous person I have ever met in my entire life.
The cost of 30 chicks in this culture is only £12 she would never in her lifetime be able to save or raise £12 Yet she wants to give from her poverty to a complete stranger who obviously had far more money than she could ever dream of.
Today we met some of Uganda's most poor, least educated people and were taught deeper lessons than any school or programme ever could.
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