That was the that was!

What a week I have just experienced

Sunday
The first rain for many months, great, at 5am the sound of rain of is so unusual it woke me up. Unfortunately the rain must have knocked the power transformer out with the result no power until Tuesday night at 8pm. so much for the food in the freezer, fortunately only dog food and 2 chickens, the dogs did well this week with their diet as I do not trust any food that has been defrosted in such a manner.

Monday
No power

Tuesday
No power until 8pm
The computer was corrupted therefore out came the old flip charts.Had to take the hard drive to be cleaned.

Wednesday
My assistant received news from home that was upsetting, this is a problem when we are so far away from
our relatives, it makes us feel helpless that we cannot be with our loved ones in their hour of need.

Thursday
My day guard told me he wants to go part time, three days for the same money as full time!.He left once before to set up his own business which his wife now manages. It is very difficult to find someone to take over as day guard, with being away regularly up country I need to have peace of mind of their honesty and reliability.

Friday
Puppy my big dog was injured, whilst out walking with the day guard he must have stood on a large piece of glass which sliced one of his pads on his foot, blood everywhere. The vet came and, as is the procedure in Uganda, Puppy was operated on at home. The vet did not have a sedative with him so when he gave him an anaesthetic the dog howled, was awful. He is a very strong dog but he needed tlc for the rest of the day.

Went to bed at night only to be awoken at 3am by the sound of gunfire, there are more than the usual number of robberies at the moment, in fact I have had to alter the office in my garage so that I can use the garage for its original purpose and put my car away each night. Apparently there are thieves watching cars during the day, following the drivers to their home and then in the early hours of the morning getting into the compound, tying up the guards, and stripping the cars.

Saturday
The TV would not work, rang customer service to be told to take the box into the shop, anyway I managed to get it working again myself. Being here has made me that I am now not frightened of pressing the wrong button on electronic devises.

So much for that week, this week Monday,  my assistant rang to say her husband was very sick, fortunately now he has improved, my day guard rang to say that he had been knocked of his bike so would not be coming to work, not heard from him since, not answering my messages. I was going up country but have managed to communicate by phone to the relevant people and can go next week. Am arranging the training in partnership with World Vision.

Such is life in Uganda.

To end on a lighter note see my 2 dogs that keep me sane

Take care and God Bless
Pat

Training in the villages

Good morning everyone,
Hope you are all coping with the terrible weather you are all experiencing.

I've just arrived back home from the training in Kayango Village. As usual it was a very interesting visit! It is always exciting to see how many people will return from the first training. In Uganda many organisations give money for transport and "sitting allowance". As we do not do this it is encouraging that two thirds of the participants returned.

There are many organisations here that focus primarily on development of women and income generating projects for them. This is great but many times these women can not put into practice what they learn because their husbands or male relatives do not understand what they are doing. We encourage men to come to the training so they can support their wives and relatives in their new ventures. It is new  for us to invite married couples to our training so that they can learn together, Three couples came and they all returned to the 2nd training.

We concentrate on teaching parents how to care for their children. Unfortunately these people are not blessed with the health education that we have in the west so it is our privilege to bring that information to them. It is always a pleasure to teach these people as they are so receptive to learn basic health practices that in the west we take for granted e.g. the importance of personal hygiene.

Water is a valuable commodity therefore using it for personal hygiene is low on their priorities. The tippy-tap is an economical way of using water for washing hands.

My Ugandan trainers taught the people the second module of the Three Stones Preventative Health Programme which concentrates on teaching how using the Three Stones Approach (safe water, proper hygiene/sanitation, and balanced diet) can reduce the risk of contracting Malaria, TB and HIV, if already HIV infected it teaches them how to live a more healthy lifestyle.

Changing mindset is a slow process. The participants work in groups as this method is interactive giving the people opportunities to think through problems and come up with their own practical solutions. A challenge for the trainers is guiding them through this process. It is great to see them working together as a team.

During this visit to Kayango, Bugiri my team and I met with representatives from World Vision to discuss with them future training together in more villages.

Will keep you posted on developments.

Love and God Bless

Pat

Latest news from Pat

Good morning everyone, am back on line now after some time. What is happening in Uganda at this time?
The city is still on red alert after the threats from Al Shabab, ( Somalia ) when we go shopping the car is searched each time, different guards have different methods, some search the car thoroughly, others get to know you so wave you through, handbags are searched when going into shops, hotels, restaurants etc.

The traffic is even more chaotic, if that is possible, as the amount of cars increases in this very small city. I read in the paper recently that there are 250,000 boda bodas ( passenger bikes) in the city who have even less regard for the rules of the road than the car drivers. They come in front of you to go right and last night I was turning right and 2 overtook me.

This is me driving in town on Christmas Eve, I was in a straight line of cars waiting for the traffic lights to change when the car on the right decided to change lanes and came in front of me ( it is not good to leave any space between yourself and the car in front!!) the car are my left decided he could push into that space from a side road then the car I was originally behind decided that he would change lanes, in all this chaos a Karimojong mother  and baby was begging.

I realised I was in Africa yesterday when I almost ran over a monkey near home, at first I thought it was a cat and then I realised it was a monkey.

As you know I train trainers in health education with an emphasis on environmental issues, last week I was invited to a workshop investigating a new stove that does not create any smoke, so many villagers suffer from the effects of smoke from cooking in a closed environment in their thatched houses. I have been investigating an alternative to using charcoal for cooking, this particular stove uses wood and pellets        made from sawdust, paper and a small amount of flour as a binding agent. The amazing by product of using this fuel is char which the villagers can either burn or use as a fertiliser. I am trying this stove at home and also one of my trainers is carrying out a trail on it in his community. It always exciting to see new innovations that will improve the peoples health.

Will sign off now ,

will write soon

Love and God Bless

Pat