End-of-March update from Clive, Kim and Carl

We’re thoroughly enjoying life here – happy to respond to any/all of the following greetings - “Auntie Kim/Uncle Clive”; “Jaaja”(Gran); “Auntie Nakato”(Female Twin); Grandpa (or “Grand” as Charles calls us). We’re trying to improve our panga (machete) and hoe skills, two tools unknown to us before we arrived here. “Be patient” is Nyero’s advice to us. We now know who cooks the best pancakes in Ssanje village (made with bananas and cassava flour); what the usual price is for pineapples and bananas and how to charm our way through a Police roadblock - all essential life skills in rural Uganda. Kim has had her first boda-boda (motorcycle) ride and driven a local taxi with seven other adults in the car. Clive has bought an African-style shirt and had his first Ugandan beer in Kyotera (Mike congratulated him on finally acting like an Ozzie).
A few weeks ago we purchased a large quantity of tools for use by the Agricultural classes and by the Boarding School students after school and on the weekends. Bukenya is converting the unused Canteen into a new toolshed for secure housing of the tools.

Kim with Dembe (the man-who-knows-everything-we-need-to-know) & Jude (Agricultural Teacher) with the new tools, painted and numbered for easy identification.

The four water tanks are connected to the gutters and have started to collect rainwater! The contractor, John, is going to build some security fences around the three tanks at the school and the Agricultural Classes have dug the ditches for the pipes to connect the tanks to the Large Vegetable Garden.



We’re settling into a good programme of working with the children in the garden – each evening after school, for a few hours on Saturday morning, and for three sessions per week with the Agricultural Classes.

Carl doing the strenuous work of instruction as the Ag class prepares a ‘nursery’ bed for propagation.

Work has begun on the new Chicken House which will eventually be home for 60 layer hens, providing eggs for the children’s diet. Kim is looking forward to having some little animals to nurture but Clive has insisted that she stop short of naming each one. The “Chook House” will have two main rooms for the hens (with attached Straw Yards), a storage room, a Brooder area to raise young chicks and a Sick Bay to quickly isolate sick birds. Carl has volunteered to test out the accommodation before the poultry arrives by moving his bed into one of the rooms (he figures it will be quieter there than next to the boys dorm where he usually sleeps).




A few more photos ...
Is Nyero smiling or grimacing in pain after his thumb got in the way of a panga? (He’s wrapped it in banana leaf)

Charles cooling down with a passionfruit drink after a hot day in the garden

Three of our constant companions in the garden .. Anthony, Innocent and Rona