Wednesday 21st August

Today was the start of our hard labour. It had all been a bit of a jolly up to this point. We travelled to Marumba and the Kasoroza, Kigina and Kataruka low yield springs within Rukungiri municipality where their new water facility was already mid-construction. Almost everyone from our group chipped-in carrying rather large stones and entertaining the local children. The local community also helped us- an important part of making sure there is community buy-in for the projects so they don’t fall into disrepair. Some pre-trip gymming came in handy. See photos below:

I’ve already received some compliments for my jungle hat. It can be purchased in decathlon for around £13, although I think the person who wore it before me wore it better.

The local community then thanked us for our brief work by doing traditional dancing and giving us tea, peanuts, popcorn, watermelon and boiled eggs.

It was our last day at the House of Good Hope where Mark, Jacqui and Ruth had looked after us so well- particularly by promptly providing Jerry cans of boiling water for us to wash ourselves in a bucket.

Mark gave us a comprehensive tour of his home and small homestead and the numerous water and sanitation facilities including a sawdust toilet, ash toilet, long drop and ecosan. Who knew sanitation facilities could be so varied and interesting?

A personal highlight being when James got stung by a bee on the end of his nose when inspecting the beehives where Mark made excellent honey.

By this stage the rain was hammering down and so it was with a bit of sadness that we packed up our stuff and said our goodbyes to the lovely team at the House of Good Hope.

The drive to our next location, Ngoto island, took less then two hours. Uganda is known as the “Pearl of Africa” due its natural beauty and fertility, but it might as well be called the “land of speed bumps” so frequently did they appear on the trans-African highway. Once we had arrived at Ngoto island (surrounded by a swamp) we were welcomed by a seemingly endless committee of local priests and big wigs. The usual introductions followed with customary tea. We were then shown our rooms, with the boys in an 8-man dorm aptly named “chimpanzee”.

Thanks to Freddie for writing today’s post