2010 Volunteer Trip Blog

The volunteers mingled with the parents and teachers.

By late morning many more parents were starting to arrive and it was time for the more formal part of the day. The head teacher spoke to the parents, teachers and students about the opportunity the school had been given and explained that everyone needed to capitalise on in. Next David spoke about the partnership between Sharon PS and Suubi and the many ways the school could become involved at the centre. And finally Helen and each of the volunteers spoke about why they were in Uganda and what they hoped would be achieved during their visit.

Many parents came to participate in the days activities.

Terry and Sue spoke to the school community about how the money had been raised to purchase the tank.

At different times throughout the talks the school choir, drummers and dancers performed beautifully as a way of showing their appreciation. It was an amazing sight to see children and teachers dancing in full flight, and there is nothing quite like the rhythm of an African drum!

The children performed by singing, dancing and drumming.

With the formalities out of the way it was time to get to work on actually constructing the base of the tank. The whole school community was part of this. Mothers with small babies worked  along side teachers, students and the volunteers to carry bricks, stones and sand to the tank site. Here fathers and grandfathers actually built the base for the new tank.

Parents, teachers, students and volunteers worked side by side.

Even the very young children helped to carry bricks.

Stones were loaded into containers  to be carried.

 The tank base soon started to take shape.

It is a very conscious decision to do things this way. Instead of the volunteers walking in, doing all the work and then walking away, it is very much about having everyone involved from the beginning. We believe that that this will encourage the whole school community to take ownership of the project and therefore feel part of the partnership between the school and Suubi.

So although we were there to help, we mostly spent the day simply enjoying time with the kids and soaking up the Ugandan hospitality. It was a fabulous day! We will return to the school in a week or so when the tank has been fully installed to check it out and also to hand over garden tools. 

 There was plenty of time to enjoy interacting with the children.

Back at Suubi during the week, Terry has definitely been leaving his mark. He has been hard at work building a new path in front of the bandas and also a display inside the training hall so that the women will have a place to show off their craft work. Samatiko is now his right hand man and they are both learning from each other! 

Terry took Samatiko for a ride in the wheelbarrow.

 The new path that Terry had built.

Over the weekend Jan and Helen happened to be out walking with Ishmael where they passed one of the local families killing off a pig. Jan decided that it would be a good idea to buy some of the meat for our evening meal. It really was quite surreal as we sat down to eat it knowing that we had seen it killed in the morning, hang up for sale under a tree in the afternoon and been prepared by Madelana in the evening. No food miles in that meal!

The hair was burnt from the pig after it was killed.

People came to purchase the meat from under a tree in the village.


Our portion of meat was weighed out.


Madelena prepared our pork meal.

And while all that was happening with the pork, Helen spent SIX HOURS on Saturday afternoon having her hair braided. It almost killed her to sit still for that long! She did it just for you Sue - Oh Yeah!

Helen's new Ugandan hair style.


Margaret and Flavia worked on Helen's hair

We will now be travelling to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Western Uganda for the next week.

Hopefully we will get some great wildlife photos to post next time.

Beera bulungi (stay well)

HUG'S from the team.

Unlike other areas where Muzungu visit, the Suubi community is keen to explore opportunities that come along with muzungu, rather than expecting hand outs from them. Many people around Suubi are making inquiries if items like eggs, cabbages and irish potatoes would be loved by the muzungu for their meals so they can supply. Others, especially Suubi ladies are generously donating food and fruits. Even ‘a chicken’ was given to volunteers during their tour of the village.

Ishmael carried the chicken which Nyiga gave as a gift for visiting her home.

Here in Africa, and Uganda in particular, it is a sign of happiness, and one can feel really bad if refused to accept what ever he or she gives, so please volunteers, warmly accept these donations.

After the warm greeting from everyone in the village it was back to the centre to begin work. Painting the new 2nd banda, which has just been built at Suubi, has been the initial activity for this group. After the hard work of first sanding, it was on with the undercoat before the top coat of colour cream was added. We are very sure that many volunteers in the future will enjoy staying in the bandas that this group has helped to paint.


As well as painting Jan has started passing on her fabulous sewing skills to the Suubi ladies. Over the past few months twenty ladies have been undertaking basic tailoring lessons at Suubi from Wednesday to Friday every week. Jan will now help teach the ladies how to cut and join pieces so they can create a finished article. Our hope is that in the future the ladies will be able to get contracts for school uniforms, especially from the schools we are partnering and working with.


The obvious help that the volunteers are giving by working and passing on their skills, is not the only benefits to the local community. In the few days since they have arrived at Suubi already over ten (10) ladies have been given other opportunities. Some are preparing meals and doing hand washing while others are cleaning at Suubi. As the name Suubi (Hope) sounds, the community is really feeling real hope (Suubi) as they interact, share skills and knowledge with the Mzungu volunteers.

Over the next week other classes will get into full swing at Suubi too. Helen and Terry will assist Joseph, one of the local volunteers, to conduct computer training classes. And all four volunteers will help us with the book reading program at Suubi. Besides all of these activities they will be involved in giving a hand for preparations for the 6 weeks grand environment activities planned and running in the sub-county by Suubi.

So all of you out there, keep an eye on this page for timely updates. Hopefully soon you too will take on from where this team will stop!!!!

Nice time, from David

After a hectic first week in beautiful Uganda we are now all settling in well at Suubi!

The power and internet has not been co-operating well, so I am hoping by the time I finish writing, everything is still working and I can get this blog post out. Fingers crossed!!!

After traveling for close to forty hours, the excitement of being greeted by David at the airport, then a long drive to Bujagali late on Sunday night, we were all extremely glad to fall into our beds at Eden Rock.

But Monday morning found us waking up to the roosters crowing and the sound of the Nile rushing past out the front. We were all refreshed and keen to check out the mighty Nile and to reconnect with friends in the village.


We set off through the village towards the education centre with lots of children following along, making us feel like pied pipers. Everywhere we looked there was beautiful smiling Ugandan faces!


Next we set off to check out the actual Bujagali Falls. This is quite an attraction in Uganda and one of the areas with grade five rapids that white water rafters and kayakers flock to.

On the way there we met up up Emma and Janet who are two of the kids that Helen has had a lot to do with during past visits. Through knowing so many of the local people it now gives us access to many things that other tourists would not have the opportunity to do. Janet and Emma took us to an area in the river where the local people do their washing, bathing and collect water from. This gave Sue, Terry and Jan a real insight into what local life is really like.


After a quick trip to Jinja town to go to the bank the day was rounded out with a visit to HUGs Kybiriwa piggery and then onto a Bayuala Bar to sample the local brew. So by the end of our first full day in Uganda the volunteers had certainly got a taste for what Uganda is all about.

Tuesday morning found us waking up bright an early to set off back to Kampala. We had arranged to visit the clinic and hospital that Judy Steel has helped establish in the slum areas of the capital city. Judy is a retired Australian nurse who has been working in Uganda for the past ten years. Helen, Sue and Terry had all read her book 'Mamma Judy' and watched the 'Talking Heads' special which she had featured in a few days before we left Australia. It was very exciting to actually visit and see with our own eyes what had been achieved there. And as HUG is looking to establish a clinic at Suubi it was an wonderful chance to learn from their experiences and make great connection.


Wednesday morning David collected us early from Kampala Back Packers so we could head off to Suubi. It was an exciting day for everyone; for Helen she would being seeing old friends and for the volunteers, they would be seeing the centre which they had read and heard so much about for the first time.

Firstly we headed to the supermarket in Kampala to collect our supplies for the coming week. Then it was off to the material shop to buy fabric which Jan will use to teach the Suubi Sewing Ladies with. This created lots excitement amongst the material traders; it is not very often that a bunch of muzungus (white people) walk into their shop and spend that much money!


After making our way though the crazy Kampala traffic jams it was afternoon before we were on the road again. In Masaka town we stopped into buy paint and fruit and vegetables so it was getting dark by the time we were finally pulled into Suubi. But what an amazing surprise was waiting.........all of the ladies from the centre had gathered to welcome us!! After lots of HUGging, yipppeeeing and a river of happy tears, they all sang, danced and played the drums. For Helen it was like coming home to family and friends and for the volunteers this was a wonderful way to meet the Suubi community for the very first time.


So I'm sure this is just the beginning of a fabulous six weeks in Uganda for this years HUG volunteers. Hopefully the internet and the power will behave a little better over the coming weeks and we can keep you all updated on everything we are doing while we are here.

HUGs from the team.

Our intrepid volunteers arrived late on wednesday night at Suubi!. They were greeted by a very large contingent of VERY excited Ugandans who had been waiting all day in anticipation of their visitors.
The darkness erupted with dancing, drumming, singing, smiling, laughter & tears of joy from Ugandans & Australians alike.
Today (Thursday) has seen our volunteers visit some of the new mushroom propagating projects & then spending some quiet time to recover from their long journey into the Pearl of Africa. 
The vagaries of power & internet are making it challenging for our volunteers to communicate at this time, but, this will settle down & the updates & news from Suubi will flow. Watch this space! There is plenty going on there!

Sue, Terry, Jan & Helen have arrived safe & sound in Uganda on Sunday 17-5-10 to be greeted by David. They are now in Bujagali for a couple of days before making their way to Kampala & then on to Suubi.

So, we are sure you are going to be hearing and learning much more about each of these amazing people as you follow along on their journey. The 2010 volunteer trip promises to be filled with inspiring stories and we look forward to sharing them all with you. 

HUGs from the team!