First time in nearly two years, I hear that Fort Portal is totally out of petrol, just when my tank is very low and i have to go to Kampala to collect Kathie from the London plane at 5.00am on Friday. The trip was meant to be combined with buying a lot of scientific equipment we need for the laboratory being established. This with funds from the Irish Embassy.
What do your do when a very serious and hard working man comes in and says he has had no work, has been and still is sick with malaria, cannot get to Kampala where there is work going because he has no money and if he goes the family has nothing to live on while he is away. You really begin to value the social security systems we have in most of europe, far from perfect though they be you are unlikely to starve which could be a real possibility here, particularly for those with no land and for those who have, as does Sunday Charles there is the problem of having to wait for stuff to grow which it does not do in the dry season and storage facilities are rudimentary at best.
A change: here is a picture of a pied Kingfisher about to dive.

Black headed weaver birds share breakfast at Mweya Safari Lodge.

How lessons get forgotten between 1960 and 2005

How lessons get lost. One of the children we are helping through school came up to the house to get money she needed to buy science books, Science now being compulsory for the first four years of secondary schooling. (I have just learned that science is no longer compulsory in Irish secondary school, I find that unbelievable after the experience of the 70s and 80s when the availability of well trained science competent people was so important to the development of the Celtic Tiger). But we talked about many things and one was the incidence of malaria in the school which I know is quite substantial. They have on the school premises stagnant water which they know is where the mosquuitoes breed but have done nothing. In the 60s up to independence and a few years after, it was illegal to have stagnant water but if it was necessary then it had to be sprayed with oil which drowns the mosquito lavae. The councils had operatives who spent their time checking drainage, spraying water surfaces and generally ensuring that breeding oportunities were kept to a minimum. Now when the population is five times higher and the incidence of malaria is shocking none of the things which could be done to eleviate the scurge are being done. Instead the Ministry of Health is trying to get permission to use DDT which will do irreparable damage to the agricultural sector; and it not necessary. In our house which has a well drained compound and the bananas and maize are well away we have only seen twenty mosquitoes in the last two years. Obviously if you live beside a swamp, because you need water then there is a genuine problem. But, environmental management could do a great deal to reduce the problem.

Karamoja

Mountains of the Moon University has just been awarded the contract by the Irish Embassy / Development Cooperation Ireland to supply two three week training courses for Teachers and Education Administration Staff in Karamojo in Eastern Uganda. Currently there are serious security anxieties as the local tribesmen are well armed with AK47s and appear to be extending their professional life of cattle raiding to anything that moves which might have a tradable value, clothes, vehicles etc. often with tragic results for those who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For bird watchers how about this for a rear view of a Yellow Billed Stork, Granny's best lace shawl.

Good Developments

This picture gives some idea of the position and view of the site which will be our new campus.Not much of an idea it is true, it needs a visit, 4WD at present.
Two days ago we heard that a truckload of equipment for the Library, Donated by United Nations Environmental Project Library in Nairobi is on its way. Previously they gave us about 300 books so: Many thanks to UNEP for great support. In four days time we collect a gift of 10 Computers from the Chinese Government which will be invaluable as servers, Administrative systems and for staff. So again many thanks to those who are being so helpful and working so hard to make the University a success.

To our personal delight we will not need to invest in a tent for the rest of the Rainy Season. Most of the roads are surfaced with murram, a type of soil which sets hard when mixed with lime and which is surprisingly non slip when wet, however the road from the house to town had lost the murram during the odd grading and had been given a profile with very steep sides and very narrow top. The result was obvious even with 4WD the road was virtually impassible and when combined with floundering pedestrians, also trying to keep to the top, bicycles with passengers, trucks, borda-bordas and cars, some travelling sideways, it seemed safer to keep off. Murram is being prepared to resurface and reshape the road!!!! The alternative road has been discovered by too many and is becoming a menace especially on the steepest part where someone covered the road with earth from their new driveway.


even elephants have itches.

Update on many things

Well here we are again,after six weeks. First lesson; setting up a university keeps you busy....very busy. Between the holiday courses for teachers and the courses in progress now we have 190 students accepted, sadly some have not come because they do not have the money, approximtely $500 a semester and another 120 or so for food and accommodation. To assist aas far as possible with this problem we run courses in day, evening and weekend modes so the place is running 7 days a week. The students and the enthusiasm is there but money is very difficult as Starting a University needs a lot of money up front, you need a range of staff from the start to cover the specialities on each course but not the hours to fully employ them until second or third year come on stream and of course the student numbers take some years to reach equilibrium as the place becomes known and trusted and the course years build up. Anyone with a spare oil-well???.
People and organisations have been generous and helpful. Hope University in UK is giving 100 computers, LabAid scientific equipment, another school support charity microscopes and further help promised, Techniquest, hands on science park in Cardiff has given us an entire exhibition to set up here to try and develop the curiosity in the teachers and children which will encourage them to choose science. Reasonable progress for the six months since we got our licence.
Two weekends ago we took our first weekend away since last Christmas; and what happens but we run into a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere, held us up for 15 - 20 minutes: