(My apologies to everyone who has been waiting for news about my last ever visit to Uganda with Robert (Teso, Uganda), Felicity (UK), Inna (Ukraine), Patrick (Madagascar) and Kerstin (Germany). I struggled to keep up with my diary because of all the visits, activities, travelling and long days on top of being so unwell for the first week with the chest infection I developed on the way out. As anticipated, with always being on the move, the trip was very tiring and there were many people I didn’t manage to see. We had only one day (sometimes two) everywhere we went. I am grateful to my friends who came with me for coping with the constant moving on.)

Kudoboard

I can’t remember when we finally had time, energy and internet connection for Felicity to show me the online Kudoboard which Peter (my eldest) had set up for people to add their memories of my many visits and activities in Teso. I was completely surprised and overwhelmed by it, not just by the idea and effort that Peter (and others) had put into setting it up, but by all the lovely comments, photos and memories. It was very touching and is a permanent reminder of so many lovely people I have been involved with (including TESS alumni) as well as various visits, events and activities. If anyone would like to look at it or add some photos or comments or memories, please click on this LINK.

Wednesday 3rd

Having arrived too late last night, Patrick and Kerstin had a quick scramble up onto the top of the big rocks behind John’s home after breakfast. We aimed to leave John and Harriet in Kobwin before lunch – and succeeded – after Felicity and I had prayed with them both. (John has been on a drip in a clinic for a few days recently, suffering with malaria, high blood pressure and signs of being pre-diabetic.)

On the way from Kobwin to Serere, we stopped at one of my favourite spots in Teso, where the murram road goes over two bridges crossing the river and swamp at Agu which drain into Lake Kyoga nearby. But the area around the second bridge has changed so much. All the bushes and trees have been cleared, the water is reduced to a trickle, and a lot of new temporary huts as well as small homes and ‘shops’ have been built in the area. It was unrecognisable and an example of how pressure from people destroys the environment.

We stopped in Kyere to collect Ilemu who lives next to the road with an uncle and his family. She is the 9 year old daughter of one of the old TESS sponsored students, a teacher, who died after giving birth to her. She now lives with Robert and his family during term time and goes to school with Robert’s youngest, Arakit (her fees are paid for by her mother’s sponsors).

We stayed a night in Serere with Rev Sam Opol and Margaret and some of their children including the youngest two (twins). Sam was my first Iteso ‘son’ whom I got to know well when I took the second group 30 years ago to help build Ngora Girls School and he had been assigned by Bishop Ilukor to be our host. His mother, to whom he was very close, had died about a year before, as much from the hard life women endure in Africa as anything else. We had supper outside by a lovely big fire as the sun set and it got dark. Wherever we went, we prayed and gave thanks before meals.

Thursday, 4th

As we had driven from Entebbe to Soroti the day after we arrived in Uganda, we stopped at one of the many roadside nurseries and bought a variety of ten tree seedlings. As we had done with all the families where we stayed, we planted one of the trees with Sam and his family before leaving them, as a long-lasting reminder of all that we have shared over the past 30 years.

We headed back to Soroti after lunch, having talked a lot but, as always, so much was still left unsaid because of lack of time.