THURSDAY 20TH DECEMBER 2012
We arrived back in U.K. yesterday morning at 7:30am after a long and tiring flight with Ethiopian Airlines that included a 6 hour stopover in Addis Ababa.Both Baz and I tried to stay awake until the evening but after  supper cooked by Daniel I gave in and was asleep by 9pm! I didn't wake up until 10am today and spent the time sorting out dirty clothes, phoning family and opening Christmas cards! Oh and a little TESCO shopping....
MONDAY we spent being shown around Uganda Christian University which I knew as Mukono Theological College back in the  sixties and before that it was Bishop Tucker College for the training of priests. It began as a thatched mud and brick building staffed by CMS missionaries. Whilst we marvelled at the state of the Art science labs being built with American money and loved the huge library complex that includes the latest ICT  equipment, we 5 Brits on the tour felt very sad at the demise of British influence.I personally am not very much in favour of the very rightwing American evangelican views...... Nevertheless the university is a beacon of excellence in Uganda and of great educational value.
Baz of course had never before  been in the company of so many  Bishops and Archbishops and to be honest neither had I! We  became especially friendly with the Bishop of The Horn of Africa who is based in Ethiopia but whose diocese runs all the way up to and includes Egypt. and did I mention that I had my picture taken on Sunday with The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu? I hope the guy who snapped us on his mobile phone forwards it to me! We weren't allowed to take cameras into the Enthronement ceremony and after witnessing the media scrum at the wedding of Princess Ruth Komuntale earlier I was happy to adhere to that rule.
Talking of princesses, I must  mention (boast????) that Princess Elizabeth Bagaya joined us at The Good African Coffee Shop on Tuesday morning as I was saying goodbye to my friends before catching the plane home. She insisted on giving Baz and me a lift in her Official Car with Official Driver, to Entebbe Airport!
We sailed past the traffic and checkpoints and Car Park barriers, were whisked through immigration and chatted to the Italian Ambassador in the VIP Lounge! And caught the plane by the skin of our teeth!!!!
Well, the adventure stops here and I must go into school tomorrow to share some of the details with the children and Staff.

MONDAY 17th December 2012
We have eaten too much!
Oh my goodness! What an experience!Stanley has been well and truly enthroned!
Yesterday started with breakfast at The Adonai Guesthouse st 7:30 am with Mansoor arriving dead on 8am ready to drive us to Namirembe Cathedral for the service. We weren't allowed to take cameras because security was very tight as President Museveni was due to attend. Which he did arriving  half an hour after the Service had started and leaving immediately after he had made a speech - all about AIDS  and Homosexuality which I felt was out of place but was obviously intended to please the large group of Bishops from America and especially the Bishop  who gave the sermon. The Americans are very generous donors to several projects close to Archbishop Stanley's heart.......
The service lasted over SIX hours but we had been warned to take a snack and a bottle of water! Baz ate all the biscuits! The pews were very hard but I am becoming an expert at lengthy church services viz The Royal Wedding!
When the service ended - and it was very colourful indeed - we've never seen so many bishops in one place. Archbishop of York  John Sentamu spoke beautifully. Interestingly, in his sermon, Bishop Bob Nash mentioned The Uganda Martyrs and The death of Bishop Luwum who spoke against Idi Amin and was also martyred........We walked down to the Reception at Mengo  School. A wonderful spectacle of traditional dancers and drummers were performing against a background of marquees and we were directed to a marquee labelled International Visitors. We found ourselves seated behind Archbishop Stanley and Archbishop Sentamu amongst tables full of bishops from Overseas. We manage to find Bishop George Kasangaki in an adjoining  marquee and greeted him and Joyce. The we lined up to collect our food - loads of matooke and sweet potatoes and millet and 2 kinds of rice  with goat stew  and  chicken and beef cooked with veggies and peanut sauce with coleslaw plus a choice of soda and fresh pineapple, watermelon and paw paw!
We sat with Janine and Sallie  and The Collors. I met the Bishop of Bristol who reminded me that Keynsham is in the Diocese of Bath and Wells!!!!!
The speeches were kept to  minimum and we were royally entertained by the  dancers and drummmers.Finally the cake was cut and Beatrice and Stanley served us all in our tent and finally finally the big black 4x4 donated by President Museveni was driven on to the lawn and Archbishop Stanley drove it  briefly.It all finished at 4pm and Mansoor miraculously found us and drove back to our Guesthouse where Baz had a lay down and I attempted to write up Fridays exploits (I  found the draft I'd lost!) BEFORE GOING OUT AGAIN AT 7PM to attend the Reception for Overseas visitors at the Archbishops place,! Wow! More food and very few speeches. I didn't take any photoes as it was in marquees again all lit up by fairy lights. Very atmospheric with different groups or choirs  singing  Christian songs to beautiful African melodies This time the food included fried bits of fish  so Baz ate a bit of protein!This party  ended at   9:30 pm and again Mansoor found us and drove back to the Adonai. I must say that the organisation has been superb and Canon Alison  and SAMS Missionary Susan have been more than helpful. Absolutely fantastic hospitality and timekeeping. I feel a bit of a fraud being classed as an Overseas Visitor but then Baz did make the flight specifically to attend George's Consecration and Stanley's enthronement.

SATURDAY 15TH December 2012.
It is nearly 10:30pm and I am forcing myself to stay awake!
Yesterday was extremely tiring and emotionally draining for me. I got up at 6:30am, groan, groan and  when Sallie arrived we jumped into Wamani's taxi and picked up Teacher George Byarugaba  on our way to Harriet's village. When we arrived all the family were sitting under a tree waiting for us.  Harriet's mum Alice Kyaligonza was dressed in a very smart Gomesi which is one of the traditional dresses here in Uganda, so I knew immediately that she and her husband Charles Mukuru had agrred that she have her tubes tied. Little Harriet greeted us witha really huge grin and Charles instructe his  eldest son, Linus to look after all the brothers and sisters including grandchild Ivan, the son of he eldest girl Joyce whom you read about in a previous posting...... Imagine Alice aged 35 and the mother of 10 plus one grandchild already...........She looked extremely apprehensive as we drove to the American funded private hospital at Kabalega. It didn't help that one piece of equipment  needed for the  Tubal Ligature was missing and we had to send Wamani in his taxi to Masindi general Hospital to borrow it......( it wasn't lost - just being used by the team of American doctors  who were In The field holding clinics in  some villages!) .
Eventually they called Alice in to prepare for the op and as I accompanied her, I discovered that she doesn't read or write so gave her consent with a cross. Husband Charles who was holding Baby Sandra (2 months old) was able to print his name. When they took her into theatre I went back to where Charles and George were sitting on the verandah and after a while when baby Sandra woke up andbegan crying I was left holding the baby! I tried to pacify her by walking up and down but  she  became desperate for a feed .... about 2 hours had gone by

SUNDAY 16th December 2012
It is 5:30pm and I have one and a half hours to relax before the next festivities!
I was so disappointed last night as I was forcing myself to write this up at 10:30pm when I was hot , tired and exhausted. Baz and I and Sallie had travelled to Kampala  in Moses taxi and hit the "jams" before dumping Sallie's bags at her hotel and then we two at a Hairdressing Salon to get our nails done. Baz continued on to dump our bags at our hotel and then picked us up to go to "MISHMASH", our friends Adam and Genevieve's Art Gallery,  cafe and general meeting place. Young Doreen met us there and joined us in coffee and cheesecake, bringing me a hat to wear at The Enthronement the next day. Eventually, we returned to our hptel and I unpacked enough clothes for our last three days in Uganda and  started to write my Blog. I had almost finished when it  flashed and I was asked for my password to sign back in!. So I lost that beautiful  Blog!!!!!One reason why I was so tired last night was that the previous day had been draining  due to taking Harriet's mum Alice to hospital..And a disco in town had kept me awake most of the night!
Did I tell you that we had misunderstood and it appears that Alice is 35 years old  and has TEN children  aged between 20 years and 2 months! Here, it is the women who dig the shambas and if you are exhausted by childbearing the family is not going to prosper.When Sallie and I found this out we suggested that Alice be sterilised  so on Thursday we sent word that we had arranged the op for her at the Private hospital. You can imagine that when I set out on Friday morning at 7am to see if Charles {Harriet's Dad} had agreed and  if Alice was brave enough, it was with my heart in my mouth. When we reached the village we found the whole family sitting under a tree waiting for us dressed in their best So I knew right away that the op was to go ahead.. Teacher George had sent word ahead and was a brick the whole day, translating everything into Runyoro. Harriet gave us a huge grin, recognising us , and Charles instructed his eldest son Linus aged 19 to look after everyone until we got back.
There was a wait at the hospital whilst a vital piece of equipment was sent for .Then, when Alice was asked to sign the consent form  I realised that she can't read or write. Charles managed to print his name. Baby Sandra was handed to Charles when Alice went in to prepare for the op and    managed to sleep for about an hour. However when she woke up she wanted MILK and I was given her. I must have  walked miles up and down the verandah  and at this point began to worry if I should have let well alone. The op seemed to be taking ages ---was something going wrong? At this point a lovely old Ward Orderly kindly boiled and cooled some water and we gave it to Sandra to drink......... At last, about two and a half hours later, Alice walked out of the Operating theatre and was taken to rest on a bed in the ward. Immediately she began to suckle her baby and I began to relax. Alice was left to rest for  about 4 hours - I popped back to the Hotel because Baz was  missing me. George phoned me to go and get them and both Alice and Charles thanked me over and over again. But I am worried that she is not producing enough milk so I sent them back home with some fish to cook and some milk for Alice to drink. She had had to be really persuaded to drink the bottled water I had bought......
Anyway, everyone seems happy and George is considering the same op for his wife. He will keep me informed of Alice's progress and  also of what  will  be best for Harriet. At the moment we are considering splinting her weak leg. I need the expertise here of my sister in law Jan!

THURSDAY 13th December
I thought we would be having a nice quiet day! Didn't go to breakfast until 9:30am- there was a big minibus load of tourists around  in the dining room so I tidied up our room in the hotel, preparing to go to Kampala on Saturday.Got some help in printing out Sallie's invitation to the Enthronement on Sunday and checked my emails. Really enjoyed the one from grandchild Nina! I am running out of books to read on my kindle and the WiFi at the hotel doesn't seem to be working. Hmmmmmm a load of noise  outside...... it is a squad of Army recruits training. They run down the road , some in uniform , some not, carrying guns and singing marching songs. There is an army Training School one mile down the road towards Murchison Falls so these occurrences are frequent.Uganda has a big contingent in Somalia. If you join the Army here it is for life .........
Monica Kiiza, former Headteacher of Kabalega Primary turned up mid morning. I had phoned her  to ascertain the amount of money raised at the Fundraising For The  Mission Built School building back in 2009. Apparently it has all been spent on painting the Government built classrooms. Mary Mukonyezi has not been to see me for well over a week  and was not in the office on the three occasions I went there....
Anyway Monica arrived with her new man in tow and is talking about An Introduction  (engagement) next year. I have suggested to Monica who is now an Inspector of Schools that  certainly the   new P7s start their new year in 3 groups and that indeed all classes start using one register for each class and the 2 teachers begin teaching just the few pupils who turn up at the very beginning in their separate groups instead of lumping  the children together until there are over 60 and then split into the 2 groups........... She thinks that is a good idea! But will Mary enforce it? The children trickle in at the beginning of term.
I enjoyed chatting with Monica, but she brought bad news - Margaret Ekwang's mother died last night. I shall go to the house with Sallie tonight. Tomorrow I hope to take Harriet's mother AlIce to the hospital to be sterilised, but only if she agrees.J anine reminded us that it must be  a voluntary choice - we all ended having lunch together- but monica ,as  an African felt that sterilisation after 10 children is a good  choice...
We'll see if Alice , or more pertinently her husband Charles  agrees tomorrow.

BUT I PLANNED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE WEDDING IN KAMPALA which took place a fortnight ago.....Here are the bridesmaids in the pink dresses I brought in my suitcase for Florence the Bride to choose or not...... The girls are getting their hair done in Dr. Margarets house in Kamapala.

WEDNESDAY 12 th December2012

Yesterday I went back to visit Harriet in the village, taking with me  the walking frame designed by Physio Abraham and  made by Laurence. If you look at the picture it is not the usual walking frame but Harriet was delighted with it.
I took Sallie with me because her local knowledge is far superior to mine and we picked up Teacher George Byarugabe  along the way because not only was he our interpreter but we will rely on him to monitor Harriet and her family when I am back in England..Y ou may remember that he is renting some land close to Harriet's home and is a knowledgeable farmer as well as being a teacher. Physio Abraham is from Teso and has limited  understanding of the local language, Runyoro

Although the handle bar is too low, Harriet loved the walking frame and did not want to be parted from it.Here she is with her father.
When we arrived, the whole family were waiting to greet us, dressed in their best as George had warned them of our visit. It appears that they are not as poor as first thought but although they have land , Charles does not cultivate all of it and we suspect drinks most of his profits away on Market day! I took presents of soap and  a hoe and then gave Charles the packets of seeds miraculously donated by Rev Deb.
Many of the vegetables are unknown and not eaten by people in the village but g
George has promised to  show Charles and his wife Alice how to grow things like carrots, cucumbers and  spinach which Sallie would buy for the hotel (George can transport them when he cycles into Masindi to teach - Rumpungu village is 25km. from Masindi. I suggested to Alice that she feeds the carrots to her children as they are full of vitamin A and good for eyes.
We then found out that Alice is 35 years old and has 10, yes ten children. Sallie then launched into the need for family planning and we are hoping that Alice will come into hospital to have her tubes tied before I leave.....
More distressing is the fact that the eldest daughter, Joyce 's baby was conceived as the result of rape by a neighbour.It also became apparent that she is slightly spastic.

We actually left the village  feeling hopeful that our interest and encouragement will help  Harriet's family  aim a little higher and possibly show their neighbours how to improve their lives. George will be around and Sallie is available for help and advice.They will keep me informed of developments which may include taking Harriet to the School for the Handicapped. The first thing is to higher the handlebar of her walker and to find boots to protect her feet. I did feel that the family were showing more interest in her.All in all a successful trip.

MONDAY 10TH CONTINUED WITH PICTURES!
Here is Roger dressed as Father Christmas offering his wife Audrey a piece of cake.

Ugandans love cake and there has to be one to grace any important event!

Employees of the Sugar Works  may buy a ticket to allow their child to attend the Children's party, which includes food and a soda, plus they may provide the present for  Father Christmas to give to their child.

Roger really got into character and Audrey feared she  might have to gag him at night to stop the flow of "ho,ho,ho's".
Then , later that evening Baz lit the Hannukah candles and I told all the diners the miracle of the oil.