Good Morning Kampala

Morning All.

I have a spare 5 minutes to update my blog, so even though I don't have a lot to say I thought I would share my experience so for.

The 'gang' met at Heathrow Airport at 8.30am yesterday morning, under the giant H. The 'gang' I am referring to consists of 13 colleagues from companies across the water industry, (From Scottish Water to Affinity and from Northern Ireland Water to the Environment Agency) and 4 from WaterAid.

The flight was 8 hours direct to Entebbe airport, which is near enough on the Equator. One of the most common questions that I was asked before travelling was, 'Are you afraid of Ebola?'... well I wasn't. Arriving at the airport and being greeted by staff in plastic aprons and surgeons masks taking your temperature and issuing hand sanitizer was however a little bit daunting. It was a stark remember how real the threat of ebola is, especially here in Africa. We are lucky to be able to joke a about coming home with Ebola (the most common thing people said to me before travelling) but here the threat is a bit closer to home. On the other hand its nice to know that Uganda are taking the virus seriously.

After leaving the airport, my wallet struggling under the weight of 400,000 shillings, we met with Antonio and Spiero ( I really hope that I have remembered/spelt their names correctly). We boarded our coach ready for the hour transfer to our hotel in Kampala. About a mile down the road one of the group realised the driver didn't have any headlights on. After struggling to find them we pulled up at the side of the road (next to a man with a large gun)  the driver investigated further. Long story short, a fleet of taxi cabs had to be called to take us onward to our destination, leaving me too tired to wonder what on earth the bus driver was going to do with no lights on a dark road after midnight.

Kampala has a population of roughly 1.6 million people and covers 73 square miles built on seven hills, there seemed to be a fair few of the population partying at clubs while we made our way to the hotel.The rest of our journey was incident free, there were some interesting sights and smells along the way, the most interesting of which was some giant floodlights in between upright sheets of corrugated metal. Our driver, James, later informed us that these were set up to catch Grasshoppers to cook and eat. How delightful.

Anyway, I must get showered now, we have a long 6 hour journey to Soroti today.

Will update you all again soon.

Adam

Today is the day

So today has finally arrived I'm all packed and waiting for my ride to the airport, a reliable taxi firm I like to call dad.

My bag is heavy owing mainly to a whole heap of southern water baseball caps I am taking for the kids.

While packing I realised its been a while since I really roughed it. Opting for a suitcase not my backpack (hopefully that won't cause me too many problems) and even almost forgetting a towel. I am wondering if after meeting some of the communities in uganda I will start to feel that some of the things I packed are unessesary luxury's.

In a minute I will say goodbye to my ever patient and wonderful wife, something neither of us are looking forward to.

This won't be a long post but for those reading my blog regularly my next post will be in Uganda. Have a good week all and see you on the other side.

Akipi

"For many of us, clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it."

With under a week to go until I travel to Uganda with WaterAid and thirteen colleagues from the Water Industry, I have been overly conscious about water (Akipi in Ateso) in everything I do. What would it be like if I didn't have easy access to clean water? What  if I couldn't go to the toilet in a safe environment?

So what have I done? Not a lot really, baked, gone to the football, stayed in watching the remembrance service on TV. Regardless of what I have done one thing is for sure I certainly needed water and a toilet on more than one occasion over the weekend. 

I certainly took for granted while baking that in order to add the 200ml I needed for the sugar syrup in the Gulab Jamun I was baking,all I had to do was turn on the tap. When my parents came round, all I had to do to make them a tea was go to the kitchen and fill up the kettle. 

This time next week I will be learning how people in Uganda prepare food, gather water and look after their families. I will be seeing the problems they have and the work WaterAid is doing to try and address this. 

Everywhere we go we expect to have access to a clean toilet. As I walked towards the Amex Stadium to watch Brighton play, desperate for a wee I began to ponder: What would it be like to not know there was somewhere safe and clean (well, cleaner than I imagine the Bwaise slums to be!) to go to te toilet. But we take these facilities for granted, we even moan when we find them in a poor condition. Its these sorts of things that I think about as I prepare for this trip.

Please don't misunderstand, I am not saying that our expectation for a clean toilet and fresh running water at the turn of a tap are an unnecessary luxury.All I am saying is that it is important to remember that in a world where smart phones and the internet are becoming a 'need,' there are still some people in the world that don't have access to water and sanitation. 

Well, that's all from me now until we travel next week. I must now go off and pack, I think I have everything sorted now, most importantly I have started taking Bimuno, hopefully a godsend. 

If you want to know any more about our trip head over to wateraid.org. You can also read my fellow travellers blogs here.

Pre trip post

Hello all

Thanks for reading my blog.

Its now just over two weeks before the water industry supporters trip 2014. High time I feel that I share a bit more about what we will be doing on the trip and how I am feeling about it.

We fly on Saturday 15th November to Entebbe arriving late in the night. After a short rest in Kampala the group will be travelling by road to Soroti, which is in the North East of Uganda.

On Monday and Tuesday we will visit two separate areas: Morugatuny sub county and Acowa sub county. During our time in these communities we will be meeting the locals and understanding how they live their lives and the problems they face. We will be witnessing first hand how they get water and understanding the issues they face with their toilet facilities. This week especially I have been trying to think of the problems I have on a day to day basis to try and put into perspective the things I expect to encounter already I am realising how trivial some of these problems are.... not getting my coffee in the morning, walking the dogs in the dark. missing my favourite TV programme. I am so interested to experience how these compare to the developing world.

On Wednesday 19th November it is World Toilet Day and I know we have some special activities planned. WaterAid don't just work on providing access to clean water but a lot of their work is educating communities on how to maintain water supplies, working with local governments and campaigning to raise awareness. Days like World Toilet Day are important milestones in WaterAid's calendar and a huge opportunity to prote their key messages and help the developing world.

On Thursday we travel back to Kampala via Jinja, the source of the Nile.

Friday will be spent visiting the Bwaise slums in Kampala before returning home late on Saturday.

There is a lot to prepare for both physically and mentally and all at WaterAid have been very supportive. I'm looking forward to hooking up with my colleagues from the water industry on 15th November.

Keep following my blog for pictures and updates.

Thats all for now

Adam

First post

Hi All.

I will be travelling to Uganda on 15th November 2014 with a group of colleagues from the Water Industry.

The trip is organised by Wateraid who transform lives by inproving access to safe water, toilets and hygiene education in some of the worlds poorest communities.

Without clean water and toilets, people are trapped in a cycle of poverty and disease. Across the developing world, millions of women are wasting precious time collecting dirty water and children are dying from preventable diarrhoeal diseases.

I will be visitng some of the communities that Wateraid has transformed and some of the communities that they are in the process of transforming. I will sharing my experiences using this blog, including photos, videos and stories of my time in Uganda.

If you want to learn more about the work Wateraid is doin and how you can get involved you can visit their website http://www.wateraid.org/uk/