Masaka Social Center

After a wonderful stay in Bugonzi I travelled back to Lyantonde to resume work. Well, … work! There has not been that much activity really; the reasons for this are multiple: lack of will by a 'Goretti-less' me, lack of organisation by the organisation and the HoP’s (Head of Programme) ‘tight schedule’. In other words…currently no one bothers! So, Josephine’s call to come to Kampala for the finalisation of BiA’s ‘Pencil Bag ...

This week was wonderful. In fact, let me call it the highlight of my stay so far. After all those disappointments of the previous week, I decided to go on a trip and I chose the small village of Bugonzi as my destination. Bugonzi is some 15 minutes from Masaka along the road towards Kampala, but honestly, I don't know much about that village. The reason for going there will be obvious when I tell you that this is where Goretti’s mum is living since she retired. Goretti sent me a text ...

My time in Uganda is coming to a close. I am really going to miss the friends, and students I have been spending my time in Masaka. Last week, we began to film the video of life at the high school, which I look forward to sharing with you at Carleton, particularly the Cares group who worked ************sor Harriet. She is doing really well and enjoying her time as a peer support worker. The peer support program has become a big success, now ...

I think rainy season is finally ending, the past few days have been really nice. We only have 2 weeks left in Masaka! I can't believe how crazy time flies here. I am definitely not ready to go... although, the idea of lounging on a beach at Zanzibar is pretty appealing to me. I have had some rough days the past week, particularly with child abuse. I had a young girl who was beaten, and left for dead in a pit latrine. (they are similar to out houses). I am ...

It is crazy to think that we only have 3 weeks left here in Masaka... it's really depressing actually. We have met many really cool people here, including several from Vancouver... strange isn't it? It has been a fairly uneventful week here this week. What can I say? It has gone from rainy season to grasshopper season, you wouldn't believe the amount of grasshoppers hanging around here. I will try to take a picture of them ...

OK... I HAVENT WRITTEN MY BLOG ENTRY YET THIS WEEK BUT JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE KNOW I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING TO PUT PHOTOS ON THE BLOG SITE... SO I HAVE TRIED ANOTHER SITE IT IS PHOTOBUCKET.COM when you get to the site you search for kmelsnessinuganda Hope that this works because I am very behind on getting photos up! Missing everyone. Ms.M

So we went to Queen E Park this weekend, and had a great time. On Saturday we went for a boat cruise, and met some people on the boat from Coquitlam (that was strange). We saw many hippos, buffaloes, pelicans, birds and fisherman. It was raining hard, so apparently the elephants drink out of puddles instead of coming down to the lake. On Sunday morning we went for a game drive. Tara and I sat in the box of the truck, and took a few pictures but mainly we only ...

JN. Thanks for your kind words Jimmy. Are you getting excited about going to highschool. CC-Chico is still alive, although he is going to see lions, giraffes and elephants this weekend. KA Sorry about the horse program getting cancelled. Its pretty hot at night, but the last few days have been abnormally cold. It is still rainy season, but usually its pretty humid even with the rain. SH The warthog is pretty scary, but I think they are funny. Chico is still surviving, it's a ...

Adam, no Ikea here, not even close. The markets on the street sell vegetables, fruit, street meat, chickens, and crafts. Robert, the steering wheel is on the opposite side as ours in Canada. Sometimes its confusing when you are driving around a corner if you are on the wrong side of the road or not. The food here is ok, pretty bland compared to what we are used to. We cook at home, pasta, stirfrys, chili,and stuff. The popular foods here are matoke (green cooked ...

The past week has been so busy for us, including Chico. We went to a wedding in Kampala (the main city, its very busy, and the roads are crazy dangerous. I would never ever drive a car here) We went to a wedding and stayed with Carlee (another student from my college who moved here and opened an orphanage, for kids who had no parents (often because they have been abandoned or their parents have passed away). She has eight orphans living with her, between the ages of 2.5 and ten. Plus ...