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.

Monday, 13 September 2010

Farewells

We spent last night in Entebbe and two hours ago we took off on our journey home. We are excited about returning home but are subdued after the farewells over the last few days.
 
Last Thursday we had a great send off from the staff at Reach Out Mbuya, our employer over the last year.

After the usual morning yoga and religious reflection we had a pictorial (slide show) of a selection of our photographs, testimonials from some of the staff we worked with, 
some Scots and Ugandan tunes on fiddle and guitar, community singing, and a cake.

The Ugandans know how to party and this was all before 10 am.
On Friday and Saturday evenings we said our farewells to some of our VSO friends although we expect to see a few in Edinburgh before too long.
On Sunday morning we passed on the car to a VSO couple. It was with some relief that I had avoided damaging the car since selling it and that in the past year we have avoided serious accidents and further incidents with the police.
On Sunday afternoon we said our goodbyes to our landlord, his children and the two maids, Florence and Maria.

Florence and Maria made such a difference to our stay in Uganda. Each of them came in once a week to clean the house and do the laundry but it was the extra care they took of us and Florence popping in for a chat with the children that made such a difference.
At 3pm we set off for Entebbe. We couldn’t quite believe that our year in Uganda had come to an end. Rhona and I were quiet and reflective on the journey as we watched the now familiar street scenes and realised how different it was going to be back home.
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1 comment:

  1. Koraput Hilary21 September 2010 at 16:25

    Jusr caught up with several of your blogs - welcome home! I've no doubt you're going through many conflicting emotions on your return but it looks like you both had a great time and left behind some useful skills in your place of work

    Maybe see you at the RV weekend?

    ReplyDelete

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