Barnaby Bear DIY skills

                                        Here I am at the Soroti medical centre helping Sally and Liane with my power drill, screw driver and measuring tape

                                          Taking a well earned break to eat my cereal bar!

CASSO Orphanage; Widows Co-operative at Koutulai; Safari at Murchisson Falls Game Park

Wednesday 2^nd Feb: CASSO Orphanage

I really enjoyed visiting the orphanage and meeting Susan who is the manager. At present there are 37 boys and girls but they have the capacity for 80. They have limited budget at the moment but when they received more money they will give more boys and girls a home. All the buildings are brightly coloured and there is a really friendly atmosphere there. I made lots of new friends and they really wanted me to stay and thought that I had come to live with them permanently.

They sleep two people to a room but when more children come to stay that will increase to four children to a room. The bedrooms feel nice and cool and spacious because of the high ceilings and the beds are nice and big and comfortable.

The latrines are really clever and are called ECOsan toilets. They have solar panels that heat up and dry the solid waste and this makes it safe and clean like a compost. They spread this on their vegetable garden and they grow eggplant (aubergines), onions, tomatoes and greens.

I gave some toys to Susan as gifts for the boys and girls.

Thursday 3^rd February: Widows Co-operative at Koutulai

We made a trip south to Koutulai to visit the widows and orphans at this village which is on the road to Mbale. They have a new sustainable development which is a great example of how we need to live in the future by using less energy and materials. They use the mill to grind cassava and other crops and are able to produce a little extra to sell. They also have latrines with the Ecosan system which means that they have a good supply of fertiliser to grow their crops.

At the ceremony there was singing and dancing, prayers and speeches. The musicians played locally made instruments made of timber, goatskin and strings which looked a bit like harps. They served up a delicious lunch of beans, chicken, rice, matoki and goat stew.

We took gifts of beautiful scarves to give to the widows and they were really happy to receive them; they really appreciated us dancing and celebrating with them.

Saturday 5^th Feb: Murchisson Falls Safari Park

We have seen hippo, buffalo, giraffes, elephants, snakes and antelope. The tracks are very bumpy and long but the scenery is stunning. Paraa Lodge is an amazing game lodge where the food is wonderful and we can see the river Nile form our bedroom balcony. I sat gazing at the night sky last night and could hear the cicadas and frogs calling. I could see thousands more stars than back at home in Aberdare and even saw a shooting star. Can’t wait for the boat trip this afternoon and the trek to see the rhinos tomorrow.

I have sent you a postcard so hope you get that before I get back. It is a long journey home again. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends back at home but am reluctant to leave Uganda because it is such a friendly welcoming country and the weather is sunny and hot.

Widows co-operative Grinding Mill

                                       Here is the grinding mill that they use to grind casava, maize and rice

      Here are the interlocking bricks that they used to build the mill building, which require less cement so have a lower carbon footprint.

              This is the new water pump that takes water from a borehole (70m deep) and the whole village uses this facility

                                       Here is the mill. You can see teh marquis that have been set up for today's ceremony. We had speeches and music and dancing

CASSO orphanage

                                          Here are the boys......

                              ....here's me making new friends

                                        THey are playing ludo

                                           ...........and the girls

                                        Here is one of the dormitories

                                         and comfortable bunk beds

ICE Cymru Executive Committee Uganda Blog

http://www.icecymruuganda.blogspot.com/

Sally Sudworth, Liane Shepherd and Dave Reynolds are all civil engineers and they have written another blog at this address. You can see more photos here and read more about what the team are doing.

My friend Liane the engineer

    Can you see Liane sitting behind me with the children? She is showing them how to use a calculator.

I really like Liane. She is a lovely bubbly person and is an excellent civil engineer. She is very senior in her company and is in charge of two offices. She has teams of engineers working for her in Cardiff who design and build new roads and bridges. This proves that girls can be great negineers as well as boys! I din't even know what a civil engineer did until I met her.

Going to church at Soroti Baptist Church

Sunday 30 Jan :A day off at last – I have never done so much manual work in my life – well not me actually – I was watching the others who were very busy every day. It was very hot and sunny - 35 degrees! Sunday service at Soroti Baptist Church was an experience I shall never forget. There was much singing and dancing, and joyful singing; it was impossible not to be moved. There were even some pogo-ing (if you have ever seen The Blues Brothers film you will know what I mean!). The children were all dressed in their Sunday best. They gave us all a really warm welcome and said they appreciated everything that the team is doing.