Tomorrow I am going to our clinic in South Sudan. Not southern Sudan (the county that is (or was until Hamas kicked off on 7 Oct) in the news for its civil war) but South Sudan, a country in its own right which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 (but itself had a civil war… Read More »
I came with a lot of luggage; Emirates let you have 2x 23kgs. Of course I smashed that with 25 and 24, and had my ‘patter’ ready. The rest was in my ‘little’ rucksac. The guy at the desk was a complete pain in the ass, though. He first asked me to weigh my hand… Read More »
First weekend and I was invited to the wedding of one of our team (though I later realised there were three of our team (both brides and grooms) getting married). Now let me just explain a little of Africa. Or maybe Uganda, though I expect it is common throughout. So, boy meets girl. They may… Read More »
Back again in Uganda, or I should say more correctly East Africa, as I will be again spending a fair few days in South Sudan this trip, before heading home in mid-late January. So a short trip of only 10-ish weeks. The trip in was pretty good actually, on both my Emirates flights, 7 and… Read More »
I never thought I’d learn another language, never mind at 50 when I learned Haitian Creole. And that was that. Or so I thought. During my 5 months here I have learned yet another language and some dialect. Some small dialect, I have to say, just a couple of phrases which make the team here… Read More »
For a range of reasons, I hadn’t booked my flight home. It seemed so far away and I didn’t want to think about leaving. I was busy. I was ill. Anyway I got around to it. I got my fingers burnt once booking through a third party, so I always go direct with the airline… Read More »
So not quite myself Monday: figured I’d been overworking (which I had) and took too much heat on the Saturday whilst doing DIY (which I probably had). Symptoms fever and thirst, classic dehydration I figured. Lots of water and paracetamol to try control my temperature. Drugs worked mostly but despite all the water my… Read More »
I went to France to an event organised by the charity. It was work, really, but I also made the most of the time eating a lot of good food, and drinking a lot of good wine. And I got an upgrade on the flight back (I’m not laughing at Rwandair now). It was 10… Read More »
So you run a small cafe/restaurant in a small border town. Though actually relatively speaking it’s not small. Four or five streets lined with market stalls, a couple of banks, half a dozen mobile phone kiosks and miscellaneous shops. I am waiting for one of the team to buy a bunch of stuff for our… Read More »
I went to France for a week. It was a retreat for the Charity. I was hesitant, there is lots to do here, and it was a long way. But I was thinking of some sort of holiday, and it was France! The food! The wine! The pastries! The wine! The wine! The wine! I… Read More »