The 29th July saw an exceptionally long day of travel for the team who drove from Jinja, back to
Kampala, and then on to Kakumiro. The journey took them over 7 hours, with all three members
of the team sharing the driving. To make matters worse, clouds were building in the east of the
country, which meant the weather was very hot and humid. In Kampala this was particularly bad
as the cloudy weather kept the car fumes close to the ground. This mixed with the burning of
rubbish on the streets, a common practice in Uganda, rendered the cross-city drive almost
intolerable. In addition, a large section of the journey from Kampala to Kakumiro was through
roadworks. These are annoying enough in the UK, but in Uganda you drive amongst the works,
often following large vehicles as they spray coating on the road, or haphazardly past diggers
etc., this slowed the journey considerably.
When we arrived Julius came to meet us and invited us to his house for dinner as Gloria, his wife
had cooked for us. Julius and the family have almost completed their new house; they are just
waiting on window panes and the installation of a western style bathroom. The team spent time
with Julius, Gloria and two of their children: Nelson who is now 9 years old and Norman who is
almost 4 years old!
Photo: The view from Julius’ plot of land
The following day (30th July), the team travelled to the SLC and met with five students, Julius and
Moses. Again, the team shared encouragement with those on the course and answered
questions. It was clear that some of the rural churches in Julius’ areas were following a very
legalistic version of Christianity and the team spent significant time answering questions on this
area. In the afternoon Chris and Rachel spent time at Blessings and Osborne school, however
Jon was sadly unwell and retired to the hotel to rest.
Photo: Chris and Jon walking with Julius at Kakumiro SLC/Blessings school
The main concern in Kakumiro relates to the continued dispute
surrounding the forced land purchase at Osborne school. Julius had agreed
a price but it had only taken into account the building materials used in the
buildings on the land. Julius had expected them to compensate him for full
buildings but because the buildings lacked window panes and doors they
were not designated as complete by the local government and therefore
he only received compensation for the materials that existed in the
buildings rather than for loss of use of buildings.
Because of necessary building work at Osborne, Julius’ plan is to move
three classes of Osborne school to board at Blessings school. He has used
some of the materials from the condemned buildings to complete new
dormitories at Blessings, and has started work on converting the pole barn
classrooms to brick built ones. He plans to keep the Osborne classes at
Blessings school while contractors slowly and carefully dismantle the old
buildings. The materials from these buildings will then complete the pole
barn classrooms at Blessings and build new latrines at Osborne. Once this
is complete he will bring one Osborne class a year back to the original site
until it is at its full size again.