Rukungiri day 1

I’m not sure when this will get posted because our internet access plans aren’t working out as expected, see below.

We had a great day today with Moses and Allen (female and how!) making our plans in the Global Care office for next week’s programme. We had a very interactive day and they are full of ideas for how to develop and improve what they do, in particular for children with disability and from families affected by HIV. They were also very alive to the challenges and obstacles, particularly working for an organisation that values educational achievement, and in an environment where sensitive issues around sexual behaviour are difficult to discuss. How should the organisation promote sexual health of adolescents when giving information about sex and condoms to younger teenagers is seen as encouraging promiscuity? It’s not as if Ugandan teenagers aren’t doing it already….

We heard some interesting stories. Abandoned children provided one theme, including one tiny injured one rescued from a goat pen where he had been kept alive by other kids (sorry) passing by with food.

On a walk round the town we visited the Orange shop in an (unsuccessful) attempt to get my phone on-line. That was going to provide our access point, so we are using the office system, when it works. We also failed to get money from two banks, bought water from Hilda the wife of Rev Moses in their shop, and to our delight were able to receive a big hug from our former sponsored girl Rebecca, now running her shop in the market area.

In the coming days we plan to meet with TASO (the aids support organisation) and then to talk to the guardians of our sponsored children about organising an HIV testing programme for them. Then we intend to meet with small groups of children with disability and their parents, to do some focus groups to identify the challenges they face and maybe some participatory investigation of root causes. We’ll also visit the local organisation and schools providing services to this group to understand what else is being done and make sure our actions are complementary.

My project of visiting the game park at the weekend has been wisely scaled back to a day trip on Saturday, but that means that more people can come with us, which will be great fun.

More news soon as time permits but someone else needs the computer.