Getting into life in Uganda - by Sue

We've been here now for nearly three weeks and are feeling surprisingly at home. I've thrown myself into setting up home and helping the girls adjust to life here. I thought I may share some of the more minor details and differences of our life here, before I become so accustomed to them that they seem normal!

Our house here is lovely, a 2 bed bungalow with veranda, tiled floors, shower room, small but adequate kitchen, and a great view. We have finally finished unpacking and bought the things we need and our house definitely feels like home now. I'm getting used to the frequent power cuts, lack of water in the kitchen tap and no washing machine! And I am continually reminded of our blessings as I watch families living all around this area, walking to fetch water, sometimes children as young as two or three embarking on this job.

I love the walk to the local market stalls. Along a little path, goats often standing in our way, chickens pecking around, locals collecting water, men chopping down banana leaves with machetes and sometimes cows or other animals being led along. As we walk past some small settlements, children wave shouting 'bye, bye' or 'muzungu' which means white person! The women will be bent over a bowl washing clothes or dishes or sat by a cooking pot.

What stands out above all else is the friendliness of everyone you pass. The little stalls are all along the road, some with only a handful of veg and some with a lot. I fill my bag from various stalls with potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, buga (red leafy veg like spinach), mangos, a pineapple, green pepper, onions, garlic and am still likely to come home with change from the equivalent of £2. Mayah and Ava happily walk or skip along with me, waving to locals and acting as if this is no different than the UK!

On our last shopping trip when I took my eyes off them for only a moment and looked down to see them sat in the charcoal dust drawing pictures in it, with blackened faces, I thought maybe they had become too familiar with life here!

Even though it is warm all day, every day and all night, darkness falling at 7 (all year round) is taking some getting used too. This comes together with the mosquitos meaning that all doors and windows must be shut leaving us to the mercies of our electric fan! Even with everything shut, we can hear the crickets clearly!

Driving is the other main area that is so different to the UK. The rules of the road just don't seem to apply here. You have to just pull out whether something is coming or not and hope for the best. Little motorbikes called 'bodas' dart in and out of the traffic carrying the most interesting of loads; 3 people and a baby, 2 people and a pig, 2 people and a bed and almost any other combination you could imagine!



Despite many differences, as I mentioned earlier, I feel very at home here and am falling in love with beautiful Uganda and the beautiful people here. I hope this enlightens you a little into daily life here for us.

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