This is the blog for Rhona and Bobby Hogg's VSO experience in Uganda. In August 2008 we applied to do VSO and, following an assessment day in London last October, we were accepted as volunteers . Because of the strong Scottish links, we had set our sights originally on Malawi where we spent a week in June 2008 but joint placements are difficult to find and in February we agreed with VSO to open up the search. At the end of March we were delighted to be offered placements in Kampala, Uganda. We are to work for a HIV and AIDS initiative called Reach Out Mbuya (http://www.reachoutmbuya.org/) where, we hope, Rhona's community nursing experience and Bobby's IT experience will prove useful.

We are due in Kampala on 18th September and have committed to spend a year there. We are very excited about the prospect of living in a very different part of the world and working with Ugandans who, from many reports, are fun to be with. We expect there to be many challenges but our stay in Uganda should be immensely enjoyable.

We are indebted to VSO for giving us this opportunity. Our preparation, including 2 training courses in Birmingham, has been excellent and we are confident about the in-country support that we will get from VSO in Uganda. I understand that it costs VSO around £15,000 to support each volunteer. If you would like to make a donation to support our placements in Uganda please visit the Just Giving site through the link opposite.

Friday, 2 October 2009

We have arrived


Bobby -


17th September, 2009. We are off to Uganda. Now the day has come we seem to be in a no man’s land between the familiar and the new and unknown. We have shut down our lives – cancelled the Radio Times – to pass through this day in order to grow gradually again through new experiences. From the trivial – what to switch off as we leave the house – to the more substantial – what will our accomodation be like? – what will the work ahead demand? - we are full of anxieties and excitement. Our first flight is at 4 pm from Edinburgh and true to form we are ready half an hour before the taxi is due. We fill the taxi with 4 23kilo bags (our missionary allowance) 3 cabin bags, a violin and a mandolin. We are expecting to entertain ourselves of the long dark nights.

The transfer through Heathrow is uneventful but it provides the opportunity to read the last quarterly report of Reach Out Mbuya, our new employer. It’s full of statistics, some disturbing, some puzzling. Out of around 1000 clients 27% tested positive for HIV. The tailoring workshop made a gross profit of 12,424,500 Ug Shs.
It’s 2am somewhere over Africa – or maybe its 4 am. I’m thinking that maybe I don’t realise what we’re in for. In my whole life, I don’t think I’ve been away from Edinburgh more than 4 weeks at a time. This is more than a holiday.

0715 hours – landed at Entebbe. The rain is pouring down because it’s the wet season. We are met and welcomed to Uganda by Benon Webare, the Country Director for VSO Uganda and minibused to Lwezi Training and Conference Centre, about 10 km from Kampala, where we will spend the next week on in-country training . There were 8 of us on the flight from Heathrow although we didn’t know it at the time. Five more volunteers (from Kenya, the Phillipines and India) are due to join us later today.


Tuesday 22nd September – Four days have passed. The in -country training has included so far an introduction to Ugandan culture, the history to the government structure (decentralisation) starting with the resistance councils of the early eighties, child protection, a walking tour of Kampala (photos), a visit to Ndere Cultural dance theatre and a visit to the VSO office with introductions to the staff. Today we had the first of three language sessions in Luganda, the language of the Baganda who traditionally inhabit Buganda the area of Uganda around Kampala. On Friday the training finishes and we move to our accomodation for the next year.We have found out that we will be staying in a house with only a bed and mattress so far and so we expect to be doing a lot of shopping over the weekend .We have seen a good variety of shops in Kampala so we don’t expect to have too many problems getting the house furnished. The rainy season continues. There has been around one heavy downpour each day but between “showers” the weather is very pleasant.The food is good and there is beer just outside the centre. The Ugandan people are lovely, the VSO staff and volunteers are a great crowd so things are looking very good just now.
Friday 25th September – a mixed day. Today we met Lydia, the HR manager of Reach Out Mbuya (ROM). She explained how ROM is organised how our placements fit in. It was reconfirmed that the skills and experience that Rhona and I bring to Reach Out are expected to help it develop over the next year. We have quite positive feelings about this although we have a lot to learn about ROM over the coming weeks.

The downside today was that our accommodation was not ready so we are back in the conference centre tonight. This morning we were told the painters were in and we couldn’t move today but we asked to visit our house this afternoon. We found a very empty house with the painters busy and quite a lot of dust and rubble around. We realised that even with reasonable effort tomorrow it is unlikely that it will be inhabitable tomorrow evening. After discussion with VSO, they have agreed to put us up in a hotel tomorrow and their staff will help us to shop for the essential items. These include two tables for the kitchen, gas cylinder, fridge, chairs, curtains, plates, cup, cutlery, pot and pans, kitchen utensils, bed linen, towels. Then we will require to stock with some basic food supplies.
The house appears to be a physically secure compound with two other houses but we were surprised that there was no guard as this is fairly common in Kampala. This requires further investigation.
We have a bit of work tomorrow and we will review our progress tomorrow evening.
Accommodation problems have not been uncommon today. Of the 16 volunteers in our group 10 are still in the conference centre tonight where only a few expected to be here.
Monday 28th September. Some progress today after a frustrating weekend. We didn’t get to the house on Saturday or Sunday but did manage to purchase two small tables, 4 dining chairs, a gas cylnder and some bed linen. We also had our first experiences on the matatu s or taxis. These are the minibuses that provide the cheapest form of transport (apart from foot) about Uganda. Although not too safe outside Kampala they are licensed in Kampala to carry a max of 14 passengers. They have a driver and a conductor whose job is to collect the fares and fill the taxi before it leaves the taxi park. The fares range from about 15p to 30p for journeys in Kampala. (photo Old Taxi Park Kampala)


We ate out well on Saturday evening at the Palm Café (photo) but were not so impressed with the Ethiopian Village last night although some like it. Tonight we ate well at the Indian Summer with Annie and Dannie who are just finishing their 2 year stay in Uganda. Annie’s blog has provided us with lots of useful advice about doing VSO in Uganda.
After a bit hanging around we got back to our house in Luzira on the Port Bell Road. It was a big improvement on our first impressions but we are still concerned that there is no guard and is a bit out of town and beyond walking distance to work. However we expect to move in tomorrow.

Rhona -


Friday 2nd October We finally moved into our house yesterday. We have had a frustrating time with most of our energy going on trying to get curtains made and hung so that we can move in without being observed by everyone walking up the street. It is strange setting up home from scratch and makes us realise how much we take for granted. Even basic things seem complicated, we have to boil not just drinking water but also water for washing up, though we may become less fussy as we go on. Although the house is nice we have no hot water, so we are having to work out how best to use the cold shower with a kettle fulll of boiling water. The landlord is a widower with three young children, his wife having died two weeks after the birth of his son now aged 15 months. His niece and also another woman who lives in his house (I’m not sure f she is a relative or employee) are around most of the time and have been very helpful with advice about basic housewifery. They have arranged for a woman to come and clean and wash for us. Washing is by hand using cold water and OMO (I think my mother used it in the 1950’s) and a long bar of special soap, so I am off to get one large wash tub and three smaller ones as directed. They must think it strange that I need instruction in basic housewifery skills. Most people are very smatly dressed and schoolchildren have pristine white shirts so we hope we can trust OMO. You can’t ask maids to wash your smalls, which you also can’t hang up outside. We have discussed getting a night guard (with gun) with VSO and our landlord, as everyone has warned us about the dangers of being the only muzungus (white people) around. The landlord is talking abut getting guard dogs who apparentky can tell the difference between residents and burglars, but I would be reluctant.
We went to see the staff at ROM on Wednesday and we were very impressed by the whole organisation. We are looking forward to getting started on Monday, and if the placements work out well, we will be really pleased, as we have had mixed reports from people who have been here for some time.
After being bogged down by the more mundane side of coming to a new country we are hoping that we will get out and about at the weekend and maybe visit the botanic gardens at Entebbe. Uganda is a beautuful country with perfect weather and I am sure we will have a great time exploring the countryside during the next year.
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