Net Gain

On Saturday I have planned a day out to visit Mweya, a part of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The day, and the money to fund it, have been earmarked for some time and I have been really looking forward to it. The Mweya Peninsula is a good deal further north than Ishasha (famous for the tree lions): it is a spit of land at the end of the Kazinga Channel which joins Lake George to the larger Lake Edward – two of the 'Great Lakes' in western Uganda. The peninsula has magnificent views of the snowy peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains, the highest mountain range in Africa, which stretch for almost 120km along the border with Congo. As well as the many game animals, over 610 species of birds have been recorded at Mweya, including 54 different raptors. I wish I had brought binoculars with me!

On Friday night I am kept awake not only by excitement but by unremitting torrential rain, and storms with thunder so violent that on one occasion the whole house shakes and my bedroom door flies open: will the trip be off, I wonder? Just as I am finally dozing off I am roused by the sound of the Kampala bus passing, and, as it does every morning at 4am, driving through the village sounding its blaring five-note claxon-horn to awaken anyone intending to catch it so that they can be ready when it returns in an hour's time after going to villages further into the hills. At 5am it is back with horn blaring again to announce its imminent departure for the capital. As a kind of roving alarm-clock for those who want to catch it there is no doubt that it is extremely helpful but for the rest of us it is an unsolicited and deeply unpopular pre-dawn wake-up call. Today, however I have an early start myself so feel slightly less uncharitable towards the driver then I usually do…

I am worried that the roads will be impassable because of the rain but Nicholas, the driver, assures me they will be fine and so we set off at 5.30am for the three-hour drive to Mweya. Elsewhere, I discover later, some roads have been washed away or blocked by landslides; but we are lucky and meet no obstructions. After the first hour the journey is through the National Park itself which means that we can spot elephants, buffalo, gibbons and a multitude of birds as we drive, as well as enjoy the tranquil landscape in the early morning light. The water-logged roads are full of hidden pot-holes and boulders and about half-way there we have an inevitable puncture – but better now than on our return journey at dusk when it is dangerous to get out of the car because of hungry leopards and lions on the lookout for supper…

At Ishasha we meet empty buses on their way to pick up refugees at the nearby border with Congo to take them to a designated camp at Nakivale. Despite its close proximity this is the first evidence I have seen of the conflict in Congo; even the national newspapers hardly give it a mention and Uganda, it would seem, is thankfully keeping well out of the troubles there.

Once at Mweya I take a leisurely boat ride along the Kazinga Channel, a wide expanse of water which is home to a prolific amount of wildlife. We see crocodiles basking in the sun, dozens of hippos out visiting each other in their groups, enormous water monitor lizards scurrying along the sand-banks, monkeys balanced on overhanging branches, buffalo bathing in the shallows, and, later in the day, elephants arriving for their evening drink and a meal of river-bank greens. A dazzling variety of birds appears along the shores as we drift slowly past: storks of various kinds, spoonbills and gonolek; pied, malachite and shining blue kingfishers; cranes and pelicans; weaver-birds busily extending their delicately suspended nests, menacing-looking African fishing eagles, white-bellied cormorants…the diversity is breath-taking.

On the drive back we encounter families of gibbons sitting by the road in lines looking for all the world as if they are waiting for the next bus, elephants grazing in the falling light, giant forest hogs out foraging and numerous kob and antelope nervously glancing around for predators. There is a glorious sunset against which the sharp outlines of the spiky cactus-like euphorbia trees are silhouetted dramatically and then, in the encroaching darkness, intensely bright stars appear in the clear, unpolluted skies. How lucky I am to be here and to have the opportunity to see these marvellous sights! It has been such a treat to have a day out and I shall return to work on Monday with my batteries fully recharged…

It is less than three weeks now until I return to England. The end of term here is on the 5^th December and the new school year does not start until the beginning of February: a nice long break for me and for everyone else too. My initial three month 'trial period' is nearly over and I have been thinking about the next stage of my visit. There is no doubt in my mind that I want to return after Christmas, and, fortunately, everyone here seems to want and expect me to do so too. However, despite my best efforts to ignore it, the global financial crisis has had a significant effect on my budget for the year, as I'm sure it has on everyone's; so I will work here until Easter then will have to return to England in time to do some part-time teaching during the summer term rather than staying for the entire year as I had originally hoped to do. Although this is in many ways a shame, Hamlet has put forward an exciting proposition: he is very keen to write a book on the history of CHIFCOD in time for a big conference for the organization that is being held in England next September and has asked me if I would like to help him to do this next term. It means that I shall have to give up some of my teaching but it will be a project that I will really enjoy, and, if I can gather all the material and draft it out with him before Easter, I should, with the wonders of email, be able to finish and edit the book at home over the summer. All that practice writing the blog will no doubt come in useful!

Writing the blog has been a perfect way for me to record my experiences here both for my own benefit and also to share with friends, family and - as people have passed on the link - a growing number of other people too. Many of you who read the blog have said "How can we help?" and I have given a lot of thought to what, in addition to the urgently needed support given through sponsorship, might be achievable: and so I have decided to launch a sort of 'blog plea' to all of you who read it which I have called The Net-Book Appeal. The name springs, as you will read below, from the two items which I hope we can collectively provide for each child at the primary school. But it also, coincidentally, is the name of the tiny less-than-A4-size laptop that the blog has been written on, so is doubly appropriate. Shortly before I came to Uganda a very kind friend bought me my little Netbook, and I have been hugely grateful for it. Without it to tap away on in the long, quiet evenings I suspect that I would have been very bored and possibly a good deal less happy here as a result. Without it the blog would never have been written and the opportunity to involve so many of you in the life of this remote village would never have arisen. So, with grateful thanks to a generous friend, I give you: The Net-Book Appeal!

A mosquito net, treated with chemicals for life, can be purchased from a specialist company with a branch in Kampala for £5. A school text-book, again available in Kampala, also costs £5. If everyone who reads this were able to contribute £10 as their gift to a child at Kirima Primary School then I am sure we would quickly find the two to three hundred of each that are so badly needed. A mosquito net might well save a child's life, and certainly a great deal of suffering; and a text book would hugely improve their educational experience, as they waste so much time copying work from the board that could so much more easily be accessed, and enjoyed, from a textbook. From my experience of teaching here myself I cannot express strongly enough the frustration of only having four or five textbooks to share between fifty children or more – and in some subjects none whatsoever; and for the older children it presents serious difficulties in delivering the curriculum at all. Try to imagine teaching maths or studying texts in English or teaching the science subjects without text-books: it is an unimaginable struggle for both teachers and pupils. Godfrey, the headmaster of the school, when I asked if nets would be a welcome idea said simply: "It would be a great blessing". Similarly, in his quietly passionate way he said that the need for textbooks is "very desperate". These children receive nothing at Christmas: how wonderful it would be if we could all give one extra present this year so that each of them would find their life changed in a simple but significant way for the better when they return to school in February. Of course, if you feel that you can give to more than one child then multiples of £10 would be very, very welcome. It would be marvellous to be able to extend this appeal to the pupils at the High School too. Malaria is no respecter of age: as I write a student is just recovering from a near-fatal attack of cerebral malaria. The High School students, also, are in urgent need of textbooks – especially as they start preparing for public exams.

I shall personally handle the purchase of both the nets and the books when I return to Kampala in late January and through the blog I will keep you up to date about the appeal's progress – and the children's reactions! Cheques should be payable to Volunteer Uganda, and sent to: Dr Karen Sennett, 23 Langbourne Avenue London N6 6AJ ; or you can donate by credit card on the CHIFCOD website: www.volunteeruganda.org .You can either pull down a sponsor form which has a one-off donation form at the bottom; or click on the 'donate now' link. Within a few days there should also be a specific link for the Net-Book appeal.

It will mean a very great deal to me to be able to leave a tangible legacy behind at the end of my time here and if you can make a contribution to the appeal I will be so enormously grateful. To my family and friends I would like to ask that you donate to the appeal in lieu of giving me a Christmas present this year: I can think of no gift that would please me more. And if any of you are still considering sponsoring a child, please, please do so: the need is very urgent at the moment as the new school year approaches, especially for students hoping (if they can get a sponsor) to go to the High School.

Several of you have also asked if you might send some books to the school to help them start a library: the children crave for stories to read and it would be wonderful to provide a supply for them. Similarly, the older pupils at the Great Lakes High School have told me that they have no books at all to read in their leisure time and would so much love to have some - especially bearing in mind that they have no TV or computers to entertain them. Shipping books out in bulk is one option but collecting and then sending them a complicated and costly process to set up. What I would like to ask, therefore, is whether everyone might look on their bookshelves and find two or three outgrown or unwanted books in good condition, parcel them up and send them directly to either the Primary or the High School. Picture books for younger children, story books or reference books for the older ones at the Primary School, and any of the classics or fairly unsophisticated (and suitable!) novels for the High School students would be very warmly welcomed indeed. The cost of postage would be a few pounds but if sent surface mail should not be too expensive. The idea of a steady trickle of books arriving over the next few weeks and months is an exciting one and, if enough people took part in this 'send a book' scheme then a really substantial number could be acquired for the schools. For both the day children and boarders this would hugely enrich their lives. They beg to borrow the few books that I have brought with me and I fear they will be in tatters by the time I leave after such intensive enjoyment! The simpler the text the better for the younger children as their English skills are still embryonic; and a little care regarding the content and style would be helpful bearing in mind the very sheltered upbringing these children have. I feel excited at the possibilities of this scheme: if everyone were willing to send off a modest parcel what a fantastic result there would be!

The addresses are:

The Headmaster, Kirima Parents' Primary School, PO Box 50, Kanungu, W. Uganda

The Headmaster, Great Lakes High School, Katete, PO Box 50, Kanungu, W. Uganda

Thank you, if you feel able to, for supporting this appeal. Christmas here is celebrated only by returning to one's family home, attending church and having a meal, for most - though not all - containing meat; but it is looked forward to with the same eager anticipation as our own much more lavish festivities. Father Christmas does not come to this village: perhaps we can collectively do his job for him this year and bring something into these children's lives that will be a real and lasting help to them….

The blog will continue until I come home in early December and hopefully when I return in January too: thank you for being such encouraging, supportive and compassionate readers over the last twelve weeks and for all your comments and emails which have increased my pleasure in writing it hugely. I am sure that this beautiful country and its lovely people will go on providing me with all sorts of impressions and experiences to share with you for some time to come – and I hope that you will continue to enjoy reading about them.