Fuel prices, football and fractured arms

Welcome to another instalment in the life and times of an Australian volunteer in Uganda. The wet season is still holding off here in Mbale and this place is desperate for rain. It normally begins in February or at least March and we are coming to the end of April and it still hasn’t arrived. People are starting to worry and food prices are continually rising and if the rain doesn’t come soon, it could have catastrophic consequences. Please pray for rain, those of you who are so inclined.

Fuel prices have been going up and up here, which affects the price of basically everything else you can think of. Transport, food, services – everything is getting more expensive. I can afford to wear a slight increase here and there but for many people here, it’s just not possible. There have been demonstrations in Kampala and Jinja about these kinds of issues and there is a growing unrest here in Mbale too. I overhead some of the local Jenga staff members bemoaning the current price of tomatoes this week and even since I arrived a few weeks ago, there is a marked difference in the price of things like breakfast cereal and margarine from then until now.

For some more happy news, one of my housemates, Tiffany, slipped on some water in the kitchen last Friday and fractured her elbow! Ouch. I spend the better part of Saturday in the hospital with her - thankfully she was admitted to a new, private hospital here in Mbale and managed to get a private room. She now has a plaster cast keeping her right arm permanently bent so it can heal. It will come off in two weeks. 

I just visited Mbale hospital and went to the surgical ward again. David is doing well and you can see the skin changing and healing. All the bandages are off now, as you can see (sorry if you’re squeamish!). His mum had run out of antibiotics again, so we were able to go buy some more for her and some milk for David. We also came across the friend of Grace, a Jenga staff member, whose mentally disabled son had been in an accident and broken his upper leg. His father has passed away and his mother is now looking after him full-time in the hospital instead of being at work earning an income. I asked Grace to ask her friend if they were in need of anything. She had purchased the medication her son Innocent needed, but it was about to run out and she had no money to buy more; she didn’t even have enough to money to feed him. We were able to purchase about 10 days worth of medication for Innocent, as well as some food. It’s heartbreaking to think how many desperate people we didn’t get to speak to or help in that hospital, but it’s always encouraging to be able to help people with practical needs and be generous with our resources.

This week, I have sent off two funding proposals to an organisation back in Melbourne, funnily enough! They are called Entrust, and they secure funding for development projects around the world that meet a whole list of criteria of things like cultural sensitivity, project sustainability & strong accountability etc. They ensure all projects they take on are legitimate and likely to succeed; not only wearing all administration costs, but chipping in a percentage of funding themselves. If you want to check them out, the website is www.entrust.org.au. One of the projects is to give away 2,000 free Bibles to Alpha course graduates, and the other project is the building of a community food storehouse in Mooni. Part of funding has already been secured and I’m sure the rest is to follow!

Also this week, I visited the juvenile prison for a second time. I read them the story ‘You are Special’ by Max Lucado and sang a song with the guitar. Deo, our Jenga brother, asked if anyone wanted to come forward and give their lives to God, and four boys came forward! We prayed for them and were able to teach the whole group a simple version of ‘O Happy Day’, which they loved! I don’t think they get to hear music very often in that place.

Today is the last day of the working week, with tomorrow being Good Friday. We also get Monday off too – woop woop! There is a BBQ on Saturday at a Palestinian family’s house (they also have a large flat screen tv and cable!) which should be a big celebration for all the mzungus here in Mbale. I am getting into English soccer/football over here and last night we watched the Tottenham vs Arsenal match (3-3). I think I have watched more soccer in Mbale than I have anywhere else added all together! My dad would be so proud of me ;) All these late night matches are beginning to take their toll on me though…I still wake up very early no matter what time I go to bed!

I have continued running once or twice a week but due to the heat, I’m not quite covering the distances I used to be able to manage (that can be my excuse anyway!). My aerobics partner is away tonight so I won’t be going to class…I don’t think I have the energy for that today anyway! Maybe I’ll go for a little run tonight before the sun goes down. The sky is quite grey at the moment; hopefully that means rain! 

Anyway, it’s time for lunch now and my stomach is telling me to get a move on. Hope you are all well wherever you are and please make a comment so I know it’s not just my mum and dad reading this!

Cheers,

Lou :)