I’ve got sunshine in my bag….

… just in case it’s still raining in the UK. We really have too much sunshine here; crops are withering and there is starvation in some areas especially Teso which was first of all hit with floods and now drought.

I pass the quarry twice a day and never cease to be fascinated by it – it’s like something out of the Russian gulag! Men, women (some with babies strapped to their backs) and children sit by heaps of different sized stones and hit them all day with a hammer to reduce them in size. Across the murram track where traffic and animals pass, without any safety considerations, is a maze of old metal conveyor belts shuffling stones from one place to another – the noise is deafening.

Further along men shovel gravel into trucks with only a basic face mask against the incessant dust and beyond that other men make concrete blocks using a basic ‘box’ which they fill and then close the lid compressing the mixture inside.

The vehicles are ancient and abandoned cabs lie half-buried in the sandy dust! I took photos one Sunday when fewer people were working as generally they don’t like being photographed there – maybe they are illegal immigrants.

It’s been good to have fresh water while I’ve been here as my neighbour has a water filter so I haven’t needed to use the chlorine tablets.

I decided to go to Mabire Forest on Sunday. When I was Uganda the first time in March 2007 there was a demonstration in Kampala against the government’s decision to ‘sell’ some of the forest to the Mehta Corporation for sugar cane cultivation. I’m glad the say the protest was successful altho’ three people were killed during the demonstration.

Unfortunately as the matatu approached the Forest the heavens opened and we had torrential rain. Many drivers pulled over – but not our intrepid driver who bravely went on luckily avoiding both puddle and other vehicles!

As you’re never sure how long rain will last I decided to go on into Jinja. I’d been before but enjoyed buying crafts and seeing again the source of the Nile and eating in my favourite place, Rumours, on the bank of the Nile. I had a rolex – an omelette in a chapatti.

For some reason many Asians settled in Jinja and they were responsible for setting up the Nile Breweries near to Jinja in the 1950s. After most were expelled by Idi Amin in 1972 the town became a bit of a ghost town and the once wide streets and colonnades of shops are looking a bit neglected. But it’s a good place to spend a Sunday afternoon and there are spectacular views of Lake Victoria.

On Friday the children of St Barnabas said goodbye to me with songs and dances. I bought them some biscuits to have with their porridge. At 6pm Labson had an end-of-term staff meeting and presented me with a traditional African carving showing a teacher and three children with ‘To Christina Spinney’ along the top and ‘From St Barnabas School’ engraved along the bottom. It really is very special!

I have really enjoyed my stay here. I needed to confront my nemesis that was St Barnabas school as I didn’t enjoy my time with them when I was here last. But this time it has been great and I’ve felt part of the school. The children’s enthusiasm for books and reading has been inspiring and I will be endeavouring to obtain more in the future and send them out.

Well this is my last day! I have just arranged for Herbert to collect me at 2.00am as my flight leaves Entebbe at 5.10am. Originally I had intended to stay until Saturday but the opportunity to see U2 in Cardiff on that day required me to leave earlier! I’m sure you’d have done the same! Actually this week is a bit of a none-event as school has finished and there is a week’s rest before the holiday programme starts.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog! I will try to put some photos on when I get back home but I’m sure most of you will see them soon anyway!

If anyone is interested in learning more about Hope for Children or sponsoring a child, the website address is: www.hope4c.org It costs about £12 a month (less than a pint of beer a week) to provide education for a child which includes uniform, food, holiday programme activities and pencils and exercise books etc.

Until I see you – take care.