Arrival in Uganda

Sally (Chair): We had a very long journey travelling all the way to Soroti. Lake Victoria was amazing and so vast, and we landed on the shores at Entebbe before travelling north to Soroti. We were on the road all day with a brief stop for dinner with Apollo and Janet in Mbale. Kampala was humming with commerce with every square inch of the roadside covered by stalls selling everything from bedsteads to fresh mango. The pot holes got bigger and bigger as we travelled further north and we swerved from one side of the road to the other to avoid them. Moses is a skilled driver!

The food is fab with chicken, rice, matoki ( akin to mashed potato but made with a variety of banana – not sweet), chipates, fresh pineapple and water melon.

The local children love to come and watch.

Our first project was to make a new cabinet to cover the electric meters to prevent them shorting out when it rains. I have acquired a new skill as a joiner, sawing, screwing, hammering and planning!!

Dave (Apprentice):

We leave Cardiff at half past two on a cold Sunday afternoon in January. We arrive 29 hours, 3 flights and a 7 hour bus journey later to discover a whole new culture and climate to welcome us. Everyone is tired and we do not arrive in Soroti until 10:30pm on Monday evening local time. However, Tuesday morning is straight to work at the Soroti medical centre. Immediately I am given control of 6 labourers to construct a soakaway for the roof rainfall runoff. The morning sees slow progress as I find difficulty in motivating the workforce. However, in the afternoon, we push on well and have a manhole constructed and the pipes backfilled. We perforate a pipe to go in the soakaway pit and assemble a simple rodding pipe system to enable treatment in the event that a blockage occurs. We also take the opportunity to look around the markets of Soroti and observe the suppliers and manufacturers who have assisted and continue to assist in making parts for the medical centre. It is interesting to observe the amount of open air welding taking place with welders not wearing eye protection. I think my health and safety inspector would have something to say about that!

On Wednesday we progress with the soakaway by building a manhole to capture sediment. The mason constructs a stone wall and then plasters around to create a tidy finish, We cut a section out of the wall near the medical centre entrance where we plan to install the plaque to commemorate the opening of the medical centre. On Thursday we install the plaque after making good the cut made in the wall. Other tasks included building a plinth to allow inspection of the rainwater harvesting tanks, benchmarking the manholes to prevent them from ponding water (which would attract Mosquitos) and compacting the soil around existing manholes to landscape them into the surroundings. Tomorrow (Friday) we see the official opening of the medical centre.

Liane (Hon Sec):