Jinja is marketed as the adventure capital of Uganda.  Although I like a challenge, I am fairly risk-averse and so I had no intention of partaking in any of the adrenalin-filled activities on offer.  However, Chloe’s sister, Rosie, came across from Abu Dhabi for a week and Chloe suggested that I might like to join them for some white water rafting. My immediate reaction was to decline the offer.  When I was taught to swim as an adult, my lessons were focused on mastering the basic strokes and I didn’t learn to jump/dive in, tread water or swim in clothes and so I was doubtful that I would be up to dealing with the mighty Nile. However, Chloe gently persisted telling me she thought that I would really enjoy it.  So I did a little research and discovered that even non-swimmers were reporting having survived and enjoyed the experience.  Heartened by this, I agreed to go. 

It was fortunate that I checked my travel insurance, as I discovered that not only was I uninsured for adventure activities, but also for safaris organised from outside the UK, about which you will hear more later.  Both Chloe and I could only obtain insurance for grade 3 whitewater rafting but we were both content to be tackling the less challenging rapids. 

We set out to walk the short distance to Nalubale Rafting, passing a family of vervet monkeys on the way, where we were first given a rolex for breakfast.  This is a classic, extremely popular Ugandan street food, which basically consists of an omelette rolled inside a chapati. It is very cheap and filling and often rather greasy although considerably less so on this occasion. We then had to sign a disclaimer basically absolving the company of responsibility for anything and we were kitted out with life jackets and helmets. There should have been eight of us going out in the raft that day but the other five had decided to reschedule. So the three of us boarded the back of a truck along with the some of the safety crew and with the raft in tow, we drove for about forty five minutes to a base on the other side of the Nile.

Once on the river we were taken through the basics such as how to hold the paddle, coordinate our strokes and follow commands from our leader, Neil.  Everybody sits on the edge of the raft with his or her bare feet on the floor of the raft.  However, when the command is given to ‘Get down’, it is essential to crouch down immediately inside the raft.  The paddle has to be placed across the knees with one hand firmly holding the top of the paddle and the other hand placed over the paddle whilst gripping the safety rope that is thread around the edge of the raft.  We were also strongly encouraged to lean back and use the whole body for paddling, which is probably why I scarcely ached the next day. Anyway, we laughed and learnt a lot and it was amusing to see the interaction between the sisters.

The level of safety and backup provided was second to none.  We had three guys each in a separate kayak plus a safety raft.  We were taught how to position ourselves so that if we found ourselves in the water we could be towed back to the raft from either the back or front of a kayak.  However, I was rather alarmed when we were forewarned that the raft was deliberately about to be capsized as part of the safety training although I now appreciate that it was an extremely wise thing to do.  Chloe and Rosie were thrown clear but to my horror I found myself under water beneath the capsized dingy.  Initially I panicked, partly because it took a few seconds for me to find the air space above the water but probably more due to the fact that I suffer from claustrophobia.  Anyway, Neil ensured that I calmed down and got to grips with the situation before helping me out.  We then righted the raft and Neil hauled us all back in. He had had a difficult time with a Chinese group the day before because they hadn’t been great at following commands, and I think he feared that we were going to be challenging in other ways.

I quickly recovered from the experience and we set off up the river with Chloe and Rosie in front and Neil and I behind. Neil essentially did all the steering and we simply paddled to order and gradually became better coordinated as time went on. It was thrilling as we approached the first rapids. We kept paddling hard against the buffeting waves until we were instructed to get down and then we were entirely at the mercy of the water.  We all loved it! We made it through without capsizing or losing anybody over board. Neil was clearly delighted that we had responded so well and it had been so successful.  However, we were a little perplexed when he told us that we had just completed our first Grade 5 rapid!

We had to travel along some quite lengthy stretches of open water and as there were only the three of us, a couple of times they decided to attach our raft to the safety raft.  A very muscular young Ugandan then literally towed us along the river so that the four of us could just sit back and enjoy the view! We had bottled water on the raft and I was pleased to see how carefully Neil ensured that even the plastic seals around the tops of the bottles were stowed away to avoid polluting the river.  There were eight or nine sets of rapids with delightful names such as Retrospect, Bubugo, Bad Place, Vengeance, Hair of the Dogs and Nile Special, most of which seemed to be grade 4! At one point Neil advised us that there was a particularly ferocious grade 5 at Itanda Falls and that we might prefer to avoid this by walking bare foot around it along the riverbank, which we did whilst the safety crew brought the raft!  Lunch was provided at the top of a hill affording a fabulous view of the river. 

The sun shone all morning to the point where even I was beginning to turn a little pink in places.  After lunch, the clouds began to look quite threatening and we could see lightning in the distance but to our surprise it didn’t rain.

I found myself eagerly anticipating each new rapid as the roar of the water grew louder and louder. There were three particularly noteworthy events that I feel should be briefly described. At one point, the raft began to stand up in the water.  I don’t think that Rosie was gripping the rope very hard and as a result she fell backwards and collided with me.  How we managed to stay afloat with Rosie still in the raft is nothing short of a miracle. More alarmingly, Neil was nearly forced out of the raft at one stage and we later discussed how we might have managed the rest of the rapid without him. Finally, a huge wave simply lifted Chloe off the edge of the raft at one point. Both her response and that of a safety kayak were magnificent. There were several occasions when we came so close to capsizing.  It was truly amazing. There is a tradition amongst rafting companies of offering to capsize the raft deliberately at the last set of rapids. However, we declined that added excitement. 

We were all very pleased that we had accepted the offer of taking a professional photographer with us on the trip. Although he wasn’t able to capture Chloe’s moment, he took some amazing shots. Neil was stunned and very apologetic when we pointed out how pleased we were to have done the more adventurous route through the rapids! Somehow he hadn’t realised that we had opted for grade three only.  My only injuries were a slightly bruised nose from the collision with Rosie, a huge bruise on my thigh from being hauled back into the raft and a sore thumb from gripping the paddle or rope. The truck and some beers were waiting for us at the finish although the very bumpy track during the first part of the journey back made drinking from the bottle quite risky.  The perfect end to an excellent day!

The rest of the week has been less exciting but no less enjoyable.  I absolutely love my work at Kyabirwa Primary School (pronounced Chbirwa) and I have now established a proper routine after the initial difficulties caused by the teachers’ strike.  My favourite lessons involve team teaching mathematics to Primary 6 and 7.  Moses was so pleased when I expressed an interest in teaching maths as apparently, the subject is not normally popular with volunteers. It seems to me that one of the biggest challenges for the children is understanding the very formal language used in word problems. The team teaching works extremely well but Moses has had no hesitation in leaving me to it when the odd emergency has occurred. However, I still find it very strange the way in which all the teachers simply exit the classroom to answer their mobile phones!

Understandably, most of the other teachers have asked me to help specifically with English. Moses says that ‘they like my kind of English’! I have been working on initial letter sounds with Primary 1 but by far my greatest challenge has been taking a daily reading lesson with Primary 4. One of the regular teachers is on maternity leave such that two classes have had to be combined.  There are about 150 children on role and I have routinely been teaching about 110 children crowded into one classroom.  The school does have a dusty little library but there are very few reading books and nothing suitable for a group of this size.  So I am doing a mixture of phonics and reading with everything having to be written on the blackboard.  It’s a long time since I have had to use chalk but I’ve been quite impressed with my writing given the quality of the boards.  The class can be quite noisy and inattentive but I feel that I have now really got them on side.  Yesterday we were looking at words containing ‘ew’ and Rona, the teacher, found the pronunciation of ‘ewe’ utterly hilarious. There is nothing that you can do if there is a heavy downpour during a lesson as the noise on the corrugated iron roof is immense and the shutters have to be closed to keep the rain out making it very dark.

It has been fascinating to work with Ruth, Mary and Primary 3 on both maths and science.  I’ve recently been asked to teach about rabbits using a specific text book! Mary explains some of the information in Lusoga to help the children understand. They are then required to copy the information from the blackboard and answer the comprehension questions that I am asked to devise.  I am not at all surprised that the children find this extremely challenging particularly when the subject matter can be as complex as rabbit diseases and their symptoms.  I really feel for them.  On one occasion, a little boy in the class delighted in keep saying ‘How do you do’ to me!   The children often bring in mangoes for the teachers and one day both Mary and I were given them.  She explained that the children had apparently allocated the mangoes between us in such a way that the colour of the skins best matched our differing complexions!

One morning I happened to hear the end of a lesson on the domestication of dogs. When the teacher asked me about how we use dogs in England I thought I should try to explain briefly the concept of pets. I also pointed out that we train dogs for a number of different purposes including guide dogs.  The teacher simply responded that if a blind person needs assistance in crossing the road in Uganda, another person helps them!  There is almost no evidence of creative lessons. However, I did notice some charming, really rather skilled models of animals that I was told Primary 3 had made out of ‘swamp mud’.  All of the teachers are clearly grateful for assistance with their monumental piles of marking.

The school appears to be happily oblivious to the concept of risk assessment and children are often left unsupervised and may regularly be observed climbing trees. Fulbourn Parish Council has spent a lot of time discussing dog excrement found on the recreation ground.  Goodness knows what they would make of the cowpats adorning the Kyabirwa playing fields!

As I mentioned in a previous post, communicating with the locals has not been as straightforward as I had envisaged and this is even true with some of the teachers at Kyabirwa.  When I first arrived in Jinja, I had to listen very intently to pick up what was being said to me although my ear has now become more attuned to Ugandan English in terms of both structure and accent.  Equally it is clear that I am not always readily understood. I suspect that my sentence structure is far too complex and wordy for those Ugandans not routinely speaking English although I am sure that they also struggle with my pronunciation.  Whereas I might say ‘Do you understand?’, they would say ‘You get it’?  When Assam waits for me to mount the bike he will then simply say ‘Finished?’ to check that I am ready to leave. If a boda driver is touting for business he will often call out ‘you go?’ Even some of the teachers working with the younger year groups do not always grasp what I am saying despite my best efforts to keep it simple.  The older pupils and their teachers seem to manage very well. Inevitably, in this environment I have had very little opportunity to pick up any Lusoga.

Complete strangers can be very outgoing, communicative and forthright in a way that would arouse my suspicion in England but not here in Uganda. One day when I was striding around town, a man shook me by the hand and asked if I was walking 20km.  When I explained that I had only come from Magwa he said that it was still very good for somebody of my age and I should keep it up!  It is distressing to realise that the life expectancy of a Ugandan born today is still probably only mid to late 50s and until the turn of this century was in the 40s, with HIV/Aids being a major contributory factor.  Estimates suggest that around 70% of Ugandans are under the age of 25 and only 2% over 65. The population is growing quite rapidly with the average number of children per woman standing at nearly 6.  It is perhaps unsurprising then that we see very few elderly Ugandans although there were a few in evidence at All Saints Church in Kivubuka.  Ugandans have no qualms about asking me my age and are always surprised by my response, and consider me very fit and healthy.   I did have one boda driver say to me ‘Mama, I go slow!’  I am surprised that the Ugandans are not more accommodating when it comes to moving about the place such that they rarely stand aside to let other people pass.

In other situations Ugandans can be extremely reserved.  Chloe and I found it excruciatingly difficult to engage Monica and Miria in conversation when we first met them although it is a little easier now that they have come to the apartment a few times to clean.  Perhaps this is normal in an employee/employer situation. Moses’ children are very relaxed with me but then they have been encouraged to talk to volunteers.  However, I have not been able to engage other pupils readily in general conversation although the younger ones always want to say ‘hello’.  It just doesn’t seem to be the way in Ugandan schools.

Communications with boda drivers remain a complete mystery to both Chloe and me.  It may be that we aren’t always understood or that they cannot readily cope with change. Perhaps they are simply a law unto themselves.  Assam has remained my boda drive as, although he has tried my patience at times, he has a number of redeeming qualities and is very charming and polite. Occasionally he wears a helmet but one day the dust was so severe he insisted on giving to to me. I in turn then felt that I had better use the one that we have in the apartment.  However, it is very ill fitting and so it tends to bang my head every time I go over a bump and I have to remember to keep my teeth well apart so that no further damage occurs to them. One day he was feeling ill but he came across with another driver, who then dropped Assam off and took me home.  Most boda drivers hire their vehicle but Moses tells me that Assam simply relies on borrowing this particular boda and so it may not always be available exactly when ne needs it.  Mornings usually go fairly well although it is more of a challenge when I have an 8 o’clock rather than an 8.30 start in school.  Once or twice I have finished at lunchtime. Assam rarely has his phone turned on during the day so it has proved impossible to rouse him and remind him to come early and so I have had to seek alternative arrangements. Last week I was offered a lift in a tuk tuk, which was fun but alarming as it constantly slithered across the road.  On Thursday we had heavy rain all afternoon and Moses quite rightly predicted that it would be impossible to travel home by boda. I was fortunate enough to be offered a lift in a substantial car but even that struggled at times.

Bird watching now beckons...