The end of a busy year

It's been a while since I updated the blog... so while I concoct something, I thought i'd publish this - a little taster o what the past year has been about.


In July 2009 I set off on a journey to Uganda to work with KISS - an organisation which I have known and loved since first witnessing it's work as a secondary school student in 2003. KISS has worked in Uganda for over two decades, supporting vulnerable children to access education. We do this by paying school fees, by helping children to access medical care and by addressing other social barriers which prevent the children from attending schools. Aside from the financial aspect of the work, KISS attaches a strong importance to the pastoral and spiritual support of the children, encouraging them to make the most of the opportunities afforded to them and to live their lives to the full.

KISS currently supports over 70 children and young people to access education at primary, secondary, vocational and university levels. These children are spread across four locations in Uganda, with the largest proportion being resident in Kasambya. As well as those whom we directly support, KISS offers a programme of pastoral outreach to over four hundred children in the wider community. At present, KISS is doing all this with just three paid staff members in Uganda.

Life for most children in Uganda is unimaginably hard. Poverty is rife, and paves the way for a cycle of corruption, ill-health, apathy and abuse which invariably has the greatest impact upon the children and most vulnerable members of society. While some areas of Uganda (those hardest hit by war or natural disaster) are receiving a measure of support from outside aid agencies and government initiatives, the average Ugandan town is easily overlooked. KISS is the only organisation working in Kasambya for the sole benefit of vulnerable children in the area.

The first initiative we embarked upon in July last year was a plan to come together regularly as a team of staff, despite our diverse geographical locations. Simple as it sounds, these times together became the backbone of everything that followed. They were an opportunity for staff to unwind together, eat together and pray together. They were also a time to take stock of achievements and challenges and to forge new ways forward for our organisation. These meetings gave us all a much greater sense of community, a greater sense of mission and an overwhelming sense that the Lord was in it all together with us, urging us forward. Before we began this initiative, staff felt isolated, fragmented as a community and lacking in direction. As the year drew to a close, it was hard to even imagine that things had ever been that way.

Through these regular meetings, we were able to decide upon more effective ways in which to nurture and support the children in our care. In both of our two main centres we embarked upon a promise to reach out to as many young lives as possible, while maintaining an interest in the care and development of each individual who we directly support. We decided upon a fresh program of pastoral activity in both centres, making provision for games, sports, music, dance, drama and prayer for children and young people in the community. As well as our wider community activities, we also aimed to more effectively cater for the needs of individuals, such as Stephen:

Stephen is a 13 year old boy from Kasambya. He had been regularly attending our weekend activities and slowly gathered enough trust in the organisation to be able to disclose details about his life at home. For reasons that none of us are ever likely to know or understand, Stephen is the victim of abuse and neglect by his mother, who regularly tells him that she wishes he was dead. He is beaten, prevented from attending school and denied basic necessities such as food and soap. One night, in the middle of a heavy rainstorm, Stephen knocked on my door. His mother had sent him on a 45 minute trek into town in the dark and pouring rain to buy her some nuts. When he turned up at my room he was wet, muddy and beside himself with fear and grief. He begged me to take him back to England, because his mother didn't want him any more.

I am regularly asked what I do out in Uganda. The honest answer, sometimes, is actually not much. There is nothing much you can do when faced with situations like Stephen's. But I am increasingly convinced of the power of just being there with someone – and I think that that is something that we have learnt to do more effectively as an organisation over the course of the year. Our simply being there meant that Stephen had somewhere he could go when he was terrified and alone. It meant that Stephen was able to approach us, and to ask us to intervene, when things got too much. We now support Stephen to attend a boarding school and visit both him and his family regularly in the hope of reconciliation one day. There are no big, clever answers in situations like Stephen's – but it is my hope that our simply 'being' might do something to help Stephen in his suffering while he waits patiently for the reconciliation he so deserves.

My time in Uganda has been a challenging mixture of suffering and hope. I have seen KISS grow and develop at a rate no one could have imagined at the start of the year, under an inspiring team of dedicated staff. We have forged partnerships with other agencies in Uganda, attended seminars and training events and implemented all sorts of initiatives to help in making the organisation as effective as it can be. We have supported 76 children and young people to attend various stages of education, enabled 26 children to access life saving medical treatment and run a successful program of pastoral activities for the development of the wider communities. But on the back of our successes, we have come up against challenge after challenge. Our resources will never be enough to meet the vastness of the need we come up against on a daily basis and we will never have an answer to the suffering we constantly witness and participate in. We lost two members of our community over the course of the year, and shared in the pain of children who suffered their own loss of parents, siblings, friends and relatives.

The past year has left me more determined than ever before that the work of KISS is both unique in its outlook and of huge importance in its impact - and I feel blessed beyond belief to be a part of it.

There is still much to be done before KISS can be said to be achieving its full potential – but with your continued support in England we continue to move steadily towards that goal. Please continue to do all you can to promote, pray for and raise funds for KISS in Uganda.

Our Lucy

At just 19, Lucy was remarkable. She had a rare kind of gentle, unexpected humour ... the kind of humour that could knock you completely off guard, while simultaneously putting you totally at ease. She had an incredibly endearing manner - she was always inquisitive, she was always hopeful and, in the face of great suffering, she was always smiling. Lucy was beautiful. Years of untreated diabetes meant that Lucy was also blind, emaciated, and in the last stages of organ failure.

Lucy lived with her mother in a one roomed house in Hoima. Fr Godfrey and I first came to know Lucy in January last year after her mum requested that a priest visit them to bring Holy Communion for Lucy. Since that time, Lucy, Godfrey and I had grown closer together than any of us had perhaps realised. Lucy's manner was such that you couldn't help but love her and, maybe ironically, discover life through her.

After a long, at times lonely, at times painful struggle, Lucy died on Tuesday this week. KISS had come to know Lucy too late to be able to help her medical situation. Painful as it was to accept, there was nothing we could do to give Lucy a second chance at the life she so longed to live. Outwardly she always held on to the hope that she would see again and walk again. Inwardly, I think she knew what was happening.

Witnessing Lucy's situation was intensely painful. Her beauty made it all the more difficult to accept that a person could be condemned, so unnecessarily, to such isolation and helplessness. Had Lucy had access to treatment for her diabetes early on, there would have been every chance of her living a relatively comfortable life. I have seen poverty destroy so much during my time in Uganda. But it has never angered me so much as when it finally destroyed our Lucy.

When doctors told us that there was nothing more we could do for Lucy, I felt physically sick. But we held on to the belief that that wasn't quite true. There WAS something we could do - we could still be with Lucy - we could still love Lucy, we could still laugh with Lucy and we could still cry with Lucy. And, at the end, that was perhaps more life giving than any medical treatment ever would have been.

Towards the end of her life, Lucy made several requests of us. Fr Godfrey never passed up the opportunity to fulfil those requests. Each time Lucy asked for something, and each time Fr Godfrey fulfilled the request, the two were ridiculed. Fr Godfrey's acts of selfless love for Lucy were denounced as foolish - a waste of time and a waste of money. Why buy perfume for a person who is never going to leave their bed again? Why buy a radio for someone who is running out of days to listen to it? The questions went on. But so too did Godfrey's unshakable belief that Lucy was worth something. Lucy's final request to us, a week before she died, was that we bring her a rosary. At Lucy's funeral this week, Fr Godfrey brought that rosary (one which was particularly dear to him and which he had made up his mind to give to Lucy before she died) and, through painfully human tears, handed it over to Lucy's fragile mother as she wept by Lucy's coffin.

Love really does never give up. I've read it so many times. But it took Fr Godfrey's defiant acts of giving, and Lucy's persistent acts of faith, for my eyes to really be opened to the beauty of what that means.

Loosing Lucy has been horrendously painful - but knowing Lucy was the most incredible blessing. In sharing Lucy's story, it is the blessing, not the pain, that I most want to share with you. Lucy taught us more about what KISS is than we could ever have written of our own accord. KISS is exactly what Fr Godfrey has done - it is not a solution or an end to poverty or suffering - it is a constant fight simply to love in the face of adversity. Lucy has set us an immense challenge. I hope and pray that, in time, we are able to live up to it.

Malaria Strikes....

I've been in hospital this week with a strong case of malaria. Sure, it's been naff. But, deep down, it's done nothing more than affirm that uncomfortable fact that I am one of the luckiest people in the world. Literally. And chances are, if you're reading this, then you're with me amongst those privilleged few.

Uganda has the third highest death rate from malaria in Africa. Yet only 16% of households own one or more insecticide treated mosquito nets and only 10% of children under the age of 5 sleep under one. No wonder, then, that children born in Uganda are born with a 14% chance that they will never see their 5th Birthday. Malaria is the biggest killer of children under 5 in Uganda. Yet it is a largely preventable and curable disease. So what's going wrong?

Kasambya experienced a malaria epidemic at the beginning of 2010. That month was the single most testing period I have experienced in Uganda. People were coming to the office looking tired and dejected. When asked what was wrong they would typically respond "today we have buried 9 people in my village. 6 of them were children." Kasambya, which encompasses a town and over 29 outlying villages has one doctor. It has a handful of small, private clinics run by nurses, medical officers and, in some cases, wholly unqualified personnel.

An extremely high percentage of the adult population in Kasambya has never attended school. Kasambya is not in a high priority area for Aid Agencies - it is not a war zone, it is not prone to natural disaster, does not suffer food or water shortages to any noteworthy extent - it's an average, Ugandan town. What a dangerous thing to be. The population is at the mercy of inadequate, incomplete and inaccurate information on malaria prevention and treatment. Myths are rife - people who do not believe that there are any mosquitos in Kasambya; people who believe that malaria comes from uncooked pork... And the most common reason i'm given for not sleeping under a mosquito net - that they cause suffocation.

When fever occurs in an adult or child in Kasambya, it is almost always assumed (by the patient and medical personnel alike) that the person has malaria. Often, no blood test is carried out and, even more frequently, patients do not even visit a clinic (either through lack of finances, lack of trust in the medical profession, or a belief that it is not necessary). Of these, some people buy their own medications direct from pharmacies (with neither party knowing the correct diagnosis) while others will simply wait for the fever to pass. Malaria medications are misused - people build up resistence and they become ineffective. Other fatal illnesses which cause fever and headache (such as meningitis) are being overlooked. Children are left to die because parents have no access to clinics, no trust in clinics or are too pressed for time to prioritise one child's health over the wellbeing of the family as a whole.

KISS is the only NGO working permanently in Kasambya for the benefit of vulnerable children. The task ahead seems enormous. But with your support, we can make a difference. KISS works to enable education - this means that we try to ensure that whatever barrier it is that may be preventing a child from learning (whether it be financal, medical or social) is broken down and that the child is then supported to reach their full potential. Malaria is just one of very many barriers which stand in the way of children in Kasambya - but it is by far one of the most unnecessary.

So yeah... that pretty much sums up my stay in hospital this week. With all my doctors and all my medicines and all my food and all my drink. Lucky. And determined that one day, no matter how far in future that day might be, I won't need to feel uncomfortable about that any more.

*statistics from Malaria Consortium and UNICEF

When they see him, they will smile.

Blimey, this year seems to be flying by at quite a frightening speed! Thought i'd better put another blog entry together before March hits me and throws me off course altogether!

Have spent most of February in Hoima. I enjoy Hoima - its much quieter, work wise, than Kasambya is and it gives me much more opportunity to be with the kids and take a bit of time just to enjoy what KISS does! Our pastoral work in Hoima is headed by Julius Asaba, who is just fantastic. I'm coming to realise, more and more, that he really is one of the most inspiring and selfless people I know. He has an awesome ability to infect those around him with a real zeal for life - he enjoys life, and helps other people to do the same. What a gift! Every single day, when the kids finish school, he is there waiting for them - and he spends the next three hours talking to them, teaching them guitar, singing, dancing, acting, playing, learning, and praying.... KISS is blessed to have him working with us and I feel blessed to count him among my friends. No amount of financial assistance could ever replace what he gives to those kids.

The work that Julius does breaks down barriers. It creates an atmosphere of trust and a feeling of being valued. And its this that opens up pathways into the children's lives. Its from this place of trust and acceptance that they begin to share their struggles and seek help. This week a 12 year old girl approached Julius and I and explained that she had recently lost both of her parents. She is now staying alone with her two younger sisters aged 5 and 9. A relative has been sent there to stay and look after them - this relative is in her first year of secondary school. The kids are able to go to a non-fee paying government primary school and received a bit of support for that from a distant aunty who sent them books and pens. Other than that, they have absolutely no income and so have no way of buying food for themselves. They are entirely at the mercy of their neighbours who occassionaly bring them dinner... but they can go a whole week without receiving anything at all. They cannot afford to eat at school, and when they come home to find no food there, they make a cup of tea and go to bed. Its easy to gloss over stories like this - we hear so much of it on TV that its easy to become de-sensitised... But those kids' eyes tonight tell a painfully real story - loosing a parent here is no less life shattering than it is anywhere else in the world.

I bought their dinner tonight - all 60p of it. I don't know what we are going to be able to do to support the family... there will be a long process now of trying to trace relatives and encourage them to take care of the kids. But one thing is sure - tomorrow, when those kids come back from school, Julius will be waiting for them; And, when they see him, they will smile.

Please keep the kids and the work of KISS in your prayers.

The Blog is Back...

After the 6th form team did such an amazing job with the blog over Christmas i've been a bit slack at picking it back up again... but lets give it a go!

The last couple of months have absolutely flown by. Christmas with the JHN 6th formers was fantastic and, if you've read their blogs, you'll have some idea of what they got up to and what a great bunch they were! You can also see the first of some video interviews with them in Uganda on YouTube www.youtube.com/therealmatronryan They're back home now and gearing up for KISS Week next week - i'm sure that their experience here will give them the extra boost they need when those energy level inevitably drop... Good luck guys!

The kids have now come to the end of their two month Christmas break and they're all back to school this week. The holidays give our team here the opportunity to spend some quality time with the kids and to get things done which are not do-able in term time. This holiday has provided one particularly poignant example.

KISS does not usually support families outside of the three main centres from which we operate. However, after a road accident in 2007, KISS came to know and support a very special family who stay about three hours outside of Kasambya. The time we have been able to spend with these children, though we have been supporting them with school fees, has been limited. This holiday that changed when the three of them came to spend Christmas with us. And what a change it was!

The children's mother died in 2001 when she was giving birth to a daughter who, 6 years later, also died. Then, in 2008, the children lost their grandmother (the one person who had been able to take on some of their mother's responsibility and care for them). At this point their father left the home to stay with another wife. The three children, aged 13, 10 and 8, spend most of their time at home alone - cooking, washing, cleaning and finding food for themselves. In all the difficult situations i've come across in Uganda, i've never found one which touched me quite as profoundly as this one. In most instances, it's possible to console yourself with the fact that there is SOMEONE who is there for the kid. But in this case,I was finding it hard to believe that that someone WAS there. Every time we went to visit them, the children were dirty, their hands and feet were covered in parasites - and their eyes lacked that little spark of hope that you glimpse in most kids when you flash them a cheesy grin. Little did I know that these kids were harbouring the three widest grins in the whole of Uganda. KISS has done nothing spectacular for these kids - but for a few short weeks, they've been given the opportunity just to be kids again - they've played non stop football, they've made friends and they've been surrounded by people who want the best for them - and they have, quite literally, been transformed by it. They're back off to school now and KISS will continue to work to support them and to support their father in offering the care that they deserve - and, with a bit of luck, there is light at the end of the tunnel for these three most incredible children.

As our kids head back to school, its impossible not to mention then many thousands across Uganda who won't be. Three kids came to me yesterday needing help that I was unable to give them. One, a girl of 10 years, was brought to Kasambya by her father 2 years ago. He left her in the taxi park and never came back. She's never started school and the lady who has taken her into her home is desperate for her to at least attend primary school. The second, a boy of 13 years, has been told by his family that he cannot go back to school this year because they are fed up of wasting their money on him. The boy says that his mother frequently tells him that she wishes he was dead. The third, a 14 year old girl, has been told that she cannot go back to school this year because her younger sister needs to start school and the family can't afford to pay for both of them. The list goes on and on and the need will always be inexhaustible. The comofort in this case, of course, is that the children at least have somewhere to go where their problems are heard. KISS might not be able to solve everything... but thanks to all the support we receive from back home we're able at least to go some way to helping shoulder the burden.

Please continue to support and pray for the work of KISS.

Jasmine Decker Writes...

Wow! Day 8, Christmas Eve in Uganda, how amazing. I have to say, though, it was a strange experience to wake up on Christmas Eve to the sound of my mobile alarm, rather than my little brothers laughter and excitement as to the fact it is only one sleep until Santa! Although to wake up to the rain was a small home comfort that I was pleased to see and hear.

To our shock once again we woke at 8 for breakfast, to be on the road visiting families at 9. Of course we didn't leave until 10:45. But... It was worth it! The luxury breakfast of pancakes topped with sugar and nutella was cooked by our very own in house chef Mr Allan Johnston. Yummmmmyyy!!! After our daily drug fix, malorone ;),we were ready to go. (Oh, in the rain of course).

Back in our groups from day 3, Allan, Ross and I, we headed off, this time not to walk 500 miles through the wonderful landscape and heat of Hoima but through the cool air and town that made Kasambya. This led us to the tiny one room house on the corner. Two young girls, their grandmother, one mattress and a pile of wood; This was the contents of their house and all their possessions. The two girls, 14 and 15, are KISS kids and have been for a number of years. They have no money, no parents and not much to live off but these girls are amazing. A smile like you have never seen, a laugh that just touches your heart and a sense of kindness that makes you think, why? Why is it that these kids have so little but give so much? Why is it that we have so much but give so little?

A prayer and shake of the hand and we were gone. This time to a child, a young baby of 5 months old. He has no mother, no father, no brothers or sisters and the possibility of being mentally disabled. A woman with children of her own and no room for another has given him a home and somewhere to live. This small, gorgeous young boy has also been given the support of KISS, when his time comes his school fees will be paid and he will be given the support he needs from adults and kids who have been through a similar or the same situation. He is one of the lucky ones that has been given a chance.

Walking through the streets and alleys to our next visit there are children lying on the floor, playing in the mud, children following you, just to hold your hand, they have no idea who you are but all you have to do is smile and give them the time of day and they feel safe. They are with people who care and surely that's what they deserve. None of these children are KISS kids; what a difference we could make to their lives if they were...

Usually when you greet someone you ask how they are and in Kasambya everyone asks, they hold your hand and just want to know how you are. So walking to the next house I was prepared for the greeting. I wasn't expecting the greeting I received... “How is Joe?” Ermm... My name is Jasmine I was thinking but I smiled and said “Fine thank you. How are you?” but then the brain kicked in and I realised that, of course, she was talking about Joe Hewitson (a trustee who has visited a number of times). So the conversation went on to Hewitson and why he wasn't there and we were :) But she was more than happy to see us and we were delighted to answer her questions. The young man of the house who must have been 5 showed us his school folder, it was clear that he had been promoted to the higher class and this brought a big smile to his cheeky little face.

The final house we went to was the most cluttered. Full of material, cloth, thread and a sewing machine. The lady of the house made, altered and repaired clothing. Some of this material was truly fit for a princess but she would never have the chance to wear it herself! Just the pleasure of making it. She welcomed us into her home, introduced us to her family, the young girls both KISS kids, who we would be seeing later on in the carol concert. Without even asking we were given a cup of tea out the kindness of their hearts and a good old conversation. Talking about the different types of school we had in England and the difference between the schools here and back home. It was enlightening to see how they work. Back home we go up in classes here you only move up if you are performing well and are achieving higher than other children in the class. After a lot of explaining the final goodbye was said and we made are way back through the town to the base camp, Kate's House.

On arrival we were all questioned as to the level of our hunger and we were all feeling it. So Allan was pushed aside and Gemma took over and created some amazing deep fat fried chips! Oh yum! Just as the chips were ready we were invited to come and watch the choirs. So we took our seats under the big umbrella tree, which had a homely Grandpops feel about it and waited for the kids to start. Dressed in black and white the children walked onto the performing area and created a beautiful sound that just made you smile. All ages performed, some devoting a chorus to each of us, others stripping before running off the stage... Yeah! I have to say it was an experience. The cool breeze in the air and the kids laughing created a gorgeous atmosphere. It was inspirational!

This is when we departed ways for little rest but couldn't stay parted for too long and reunited for a wonderful meal of flavoured beef with spicy noodles cooked, once again, by Allan. The meat was a little tough but all else was good and we all cleaned the plates. After dinner was all cleared up all seven of us snuggled on the one bed in the one room I was sleeping in and Never Been Kissed went on. What a film!

Finally the film ended with a few of us asleep and others wide awake. So after a quick shake and burst of energy we all headed outside for the Christmas Eve party. Realising more soda was needed for us big kids a few of the team headed into the town, which yes was still open at 11. They returned to the wonderful sound of ABBA and our interpretation of Ugandan dancing, it wasn't pretty!

So the time came to see in Christmas Day... To the sound of me singing along to Dancing Queen Sorsha and I hugged and wished each other a very Merry Christmas. Neither of us let it show but I know I was thinking of home and the rest of the team probably were to, who wouldn't be? As time past we all said our good nights and headed our separate ways. As I lay there in bed the thought of my brothers putting out their stockings came to my mind and I couldn't help but wish I were there with them but as I rolled over I was brought back to the wonderful fact I was spending Christmas in Uganda and I couldn't help but smile and think how lucky I was!

Allan Johnston Writes....

Looks like it's my turn to write the blog. I think it's gonna be hard to beat the Patriotism of John, the time magazine literary skills of Ross or the sarcasm of Gemma. So I've decided to keep up the Ugandan tradition and punish you with some jokes. :)

Well, today started with a 6:20am rise for Ross and I to make confession with Fr. Godfrey (Legend) followed by 7 am Mass. It wasn't that hard to get up as I was still on a high from yesterdays Safari trip, still can't believe I saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, and a lion in the wild, and the crazy dreams from the Malaria tablets are starting to kick in!!! Also felt the wrath of the dreaded tetsi fly, but the swat team were all over it.

Mass was held in the Parish's beautiful cathedral and was carried out in Runyoro, the local language. The sun rose during the Mass and shone through the stained glass windows which was cool. There were about 70 parishioners there and it was astonishing to see how generous they were during the collection despite the poverty they find themselves in! They had a lot to offer! We were introduced to the congregation and got a wee round of applause.

After Mass, Ross and I joined Father with the headmaster of the local secondary school for breakfast. Father made us porridge, coffee, eggs and chicken, which was eggsellent. Apart from being offered a job, on the condition I start up the school knitting and cooking clubs, I had a very insightful conversation about the school (class sizes – 70 plus!!!!!, resources, pupils' attitudes to education). If only some people realised how privileged they were to have a free education in the conditions we have, Especially with the superb teachers at JHN!!!!!

Back down to the Millennium party palace to find all the other lazy sods still in bed, bar McShenouda who had woken up early to practice his Scottish accent. Collected some cash for a wee jaunt to town to pick up some water, juice and a present for Father. Also picked up a QUALI-T cowboy hat – I'm pulling off the Clint Eastwood look now although I've been told it's more like the Milky Bar Kid (maybe that's cos I'm strong and tough). Had a bit of banter with the locals about the Premiership, although my football songs seemed to confuse a couple of them but what's new?

Back at the base, everyone had finally started getting ready to say our sad goodbyes, packing the luggage into and ON TOP OF THE VAN! Guess who's stuff was first up!?! Cue the long journey looking over my shoulder to check they hadn't dropped off, not to worry though Martin was on the case :). We emptied our rooms and headed to our last breakfast, and my second of the day, at the Millennium. We had a talk with Father G and had a prayer and wee sing-song. Gave Father a framed photo of our awesome choir from a couple of days ago, we were AWESOME!!!!!

Off we set on our 4 hour journey to Kasambya, to try and find a piece of tarmac in Uganda, and it only took 3 hours 20 minutes! Honestly though my bum can't take any more of this :( Busted out the I-pod for some tunes to ease my pain, only to find I'd forgotten to charge it....Jasmine to the rescue though, with her collection of Steps and Westlife, what a tragedy! Should be band!! The drive was actually quite spectacular. One minute the scenery is reminding me of back home in Scotland, then I see 20 people trying to hitch a lift and mud huts the size of my bedroom with 8 people staying in it. Although every time my once white, now dusty brown, arm waves out of the window all I get is smiles, waves and chants of “MUZUNGU” (white person).

Finally caved in and booted up the mobile to check the internet, the bill is gonna be huge :(, happy to hear that Rage Against The Machine climbed their way to Christmas number 1!. Olly must be loving it! Our 3 Ugandan guests were obviously sick of my puns and we had to stop a few times. 'Twas all good and we were back on our way. As we branched off the main road and went deeper and deeper into the Ugandan rainforest it became clear that us Muzungus where a rarity! The looks we were getting were priceless!

We stopped at Mubende, the nearest big town to Kasambya, about 40 minutes away from the Kiss office to collect Kate's Christmas parcels. She got a brilliant Terry Wogan t-shirt, what Vision {editor - i'm told this is a pun about Eurovision - took a while...] her friends must have. John managed to barter with a shopkeeper for a football shirt, he was well chuffed with himself.

Arriving at Kasambya was amazing, if only for the fact that the last leg of the journey was not roller-coaster like! The children had lined the streets to welcome us with waves, songs and dancing!

It's been a long week and the tiredness had started to kick in, but this welcome gave me a little boost and helped me through the next hour. We were introduced to our hosts and went up to our new lodgings.

Upon seeing our new rooms, we realised how lucky we were, even in Hoima. Its John and I sharing this time, Marty and Ross, and Sorsha and Gemma. Jasmine is down at Kate's place, which although is quite similar in terms of amenities, has a major homely feel about it. No shower at our new place, buckets of water will suffice. Obviously the old hole in the ground as a toilet was both as much a novelty as it was frightening. There are two toilets and apparently one of them is designated girls only because they don't trust our aim! [puns censored].

As we settled down and unpacked our cases, there were mixed emotions. I think that we are still feeling a bit down about having to leave Hoima so soon after building up such amazing relationships with the wonderful people there. Hopefully we will build the same strong links with our new friends here.

One of the main positives about Kasambya so far is that our cooking is now up to us, I'm in my element. We went up to the market and bought ingredients for the next few days, cant wait to get in amongst it. The market was a weird experience, EVERY set of eyes in the place was on us. The grumpiness had started to kick in and it all became a bit too much, for me anyway, I needed my nap!

Went back to the digs and had a lie down, only to find there was a cricket sharing my bed!!! I was bowled over! Woke me up anyway. We all got washed and went down to Kate's to watch Cool Runnings, where my puns were starting to get an icy reception, while some people finished their diaries. It was good to chill out for a bit and really helped everyone de-stress and collect their thoughts.

It had been a long day and we headed back up the road looking at the amazing sky and I don't think I've ever seen the stars look like that in the UK, Bit of time to reflect on the last few days and look forward to stage 2 before a well deserved sleep, I don't think anyone had trouble sleeping anyway.