March 28th Monday
We introduced the topic of autism to the students, but unfortunately we have not had all the students attending due to illness. We were tired from the weekend and sat and watched the 3rd DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean and fell in to bed.
Tuesday 29th March
Lecturing continued with Autism and there was some lively discussion and Lorraine had some great DVD material to illustrate some of the features. All good stuff!
We have become very settled into our daily routines, washing (self and clothes in buckets) cooking, ironing, sweeping and mopping all of which gets us very hot and sweaty! We have a lovely taxi driver called Solomon who greets us cheerfully and is on time every morning. He’s very patient when we go shopping for groceries and helps us carry it up the 3 flights of stairs. He’s much safer than a boda boda!
Last night it rained and did it rain! We had thunder and lightning and this time Julie didn’t sleep through it. Just when we thought that we had got the flat sorted Lorraine woke to some drops of water on her face during the thunderstorm. It was only a small leak which lasted about an hour until the rain eased. She had to keep moving around the bed to find a dry spot. We’ve moved the bed today as there might be more rain tonight.
We do hear thunder storms and we have solved the problem of why we can’t hear mosquitos. We realised, with some hilarity, that we are suffering from high frequency deafness! We told Helen (Course Coordinator) and she was thought this was hilarious and couldn’t wait to tell her husband Steve.
This weekend we are off on another adventure as if life isn’t varied enough. We are going to Murchison Falls in the North West with a back packing group and we will be sleeping in a tent! More washing in a bucket? Marrise (SLT at Mulago) kindly arranged this for us and told them we are not the usual back packers so let’s hope they will be a bit kind to us. The trip includes a visit to see the Falls, a boat ride on the Victoria Nile, and the chance to see lions, giraffes, rhinos etc. And we will tell you how we got on next week.
Wednesday 30th March
Fortunately the rain had eased by 8.30 as we went to work. The day’s plan introducing taking a case history for a child with Autism and we were fortunate in the afternoon to have a Ugandan parent come and talk to us about having a child with a disability. It was very interesting to have her describe the experience of health and education for children with disabilities in Uganda.
We managed a bit of shopping today in a African crafts shop called Banana Leaf which was a treat as there are very few places to buy anything.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Week 5 March 26th Saturday
First proper weekend off and a trip to a place near Jinja with Helen and Steve. We left Kampala at 9am for a 2 hour journey passing through busy towns and villages. There seemed to be lots of road side markets and shops. You get the impression of people shopping, chatting and children playing. We have tried to take photos as the car moved along or when it got held up in traffic so we hope that we have captured some of the daily activity that is the norm for the people of this region.
We noticed in 2 places that women were using a pump to bring up water from a well and filling large yellow jerry cans. Along the road side there are cows and goats tethered and grazing. There are lot of people walking along the road side carrying sticks, baskets, matoke, and water, often on their heads. We passed a bicycle with a single bed frame on it and Lorraine spotted a boda boda with a whole dead pig on the back.
After an hour or so the scenery became very rural and as we have had some rain the trees and grasses are looking very lush. We turn down a dirt track for about a mile and then came upon “The Haven” aptly named as it turned out. Helen and Steve camp here on a regular basis at weekend as the views across the river, Victoria Nile, are breath-taking. We were not camping ha! Ha! We treated ourselves to an ensuite lodge called a banda. It had a lovely thatched roof and two verandas one up and one down. The reception area was also the bar/restaurant and we could sit with our drinks overlooking the river. It was very comfortable and we had excellent service.
The river here has rapids up to a grade 5 and we watched a few hardy souls go white water rafting! It is a “twitchers” paradise and just sitting in our chairs we have seen some fabulous birds, including a pair of Fish Eagles, a Woodland Kingfisher, yellow weaver birds and Ross’s Turaco to name just a few. It was very quiet and peaceful. Dinner was a buffet and was very good. That night there was a terrific thunderstorm which Julie slept through much to Lorraine’s great surprise.
Sunday March 27th
Two weeks to go!
We were back home at 2pm as Steve had to go to work up country. We just had a quiet afternoon preparing for the week ahead.
First proper weekend off and a trip to a place near Jinja with Helen and Steve. We left Kampala at 9am for a 2 hour journey passing through busy towns and villages. There seemed to be lots of road side markets and shops. You get the impression of people shopping, chatting and children playing. We have tried to take photos as the car moved along or when it got held up in traffic so we hope that we have captured some of the daily activity that is the norm for the people of this region.
We noticed in 2 places that women were using a pump to bring up water from a well and filling large yellow jerry cans. Along the road side there are cows and goats tethered and grazing. There are lot of people walking along the road side carrying sticks, baskets, matoke, and water, often on their heads. We passed a bicycle with a single bed frame on it and Lorraine spotted a boda boda with a whole dead pig on the back.
After an hour or so the scenery became very rural and as we have had some rain the trees and grasses are looking very lush. We turn down a dirt track for about a mile and then came upon “The Haven” aptly named as it turned out. Helen and Steve camp here on a regular basis at weekend as the views across the river, Victoria Nile, are breath-taking. We were not camping ha! Ha! We treated ourselves to an ensuite lodge called a banda. It had a lovely thatched roof and two verandas one up and one down. The reception area was also the bar/restaurant and we could sit with our drinks overlooking the river. It was very comfortable and we had excellent service.
The river here has rapids up to a grade 5 and we watched a few hardy souls go white water rafting! It is a “twitchers” paradise and just sitting in our chairs we have seen some fabulous birds, including a pair of Fish Eagles, a Woodland Kingfisher, yellow weaver birds and Ross’s Turaco to name just a few. It was very quiet and peaceful. Dinner was a buffet and was very good. That night there was a terrific thunderstorm which Julie slept through much to Lorraine’s great surprise.
Sunday March 27th
Two weeks to go!
We were back home at 2pm as Steve had to go to work up country. We just had a quiet afternoon preparing for the week ahead.
Friday, 25 March 2011
March 24th Thursday
The expected rain did not arrive. Another warm night. Last night we only had Tom and Dick, Harry must have found a new home.
Off to Mulago this morning with our taxi man Hassan. He was telling us all about the motor bike men called “boda bodas”. They weave in and out of the traffic making up the road rules as they go along. They can appear from anywhere, ignoring traffic lights and like the matatus if there is a traffic jam they will go on to the pavement to get to their destination. We have seen whole families on a boda bodas and it is quite common to see at least 3 people (including the driver) travelling round on them. Hassan told us that they are not a safe mode of transport and there are many accidents every year as not many of them wears a helmet. Most Ugandans we have spoken to know of someone who has had an accident and many of them are serious head injuries. When we walk back from the supermarket which is only 10 minutes away both the matatus and the boda bodas shout and wave and beep their horns to get us to use the transport.
Our taxi drivers have been great but the rules of the road are that people just cut you up all the time and it’s like a game of chicken as you force your way in and out of the traffic! Lorraine says if we ever get used to it, it is definitely time to come home.
Today we had a whole day on Downs Syndrome led by Lorraine. We had some great video to show them of children playing and eating and we had an interesting discussion about the place of Down’s syndrome people in society: sometimes agreeing to disagree.
As we have said we have defined roles and responsibilities. Lorraine irons and Julie cooks. We have two rings on a calor gas system. We never quite know what we are going to have as Julie has to make up a meal from what’s there without the usual store cupboard ingredients. So last night we had stir fry. Doesn’t sound very remarkable, necessity being the mother of invention, this is what was cooked:
Pan roasted Cashew nuts, then added one sweet potato (not like ours but white and not so soft but takes up flavours well), one orange pepper, some onion, garlic, a few green beans for some colour, and fried them off for a while and then a little later added a slightly under ripe avocado. When they had fried for a while I added soy sauce and some tropical juice out of the fridge for a sauce. So when it was served and Lorraine said it was ok then I asked her what she thought the secret ingredient was. I used a big spoonful of marmalade to give it some sweetness and made the sauce nice and syrupy.
Lorraine has enjoyed Julie’s cooking and has encouraged her to post some more "Brown Flat 2 ring recipes" in the Blog. So watch this space.
Later that night the power went off for 2 ½ hours and we had to work by kerosene lamp and torch light. The trouble with the power going off is that the fans go off and the kerosene lamp puts out heat so we were sweating and cooking whilst we worked on the computer by torch light. We were very pleased to hear from both of our husbands that night. Julie was relieved to hear about her mum who went in for surgery on Monday. She hasn’t been too well or comfortable in the last few days but there are signs of improvement. She will be staying in hospital until next week although it is quite hard being out here and not being able to see her. I know the rest of the family are looking after her very well.
Lorraine is teaching tomorrow on Epilepsy.
March 25th Friday
We had 5 out of 6 students this morning and two of the students knew a lot about epilepsy and we had a productive sharing of information. It was a very lively session and we appreciated the contributions that the students made. The second part of the morning was looking at case histories of children with a learning disability. There was real evidence from the students that they were beginning to understand the multi-faceted approach of being an SLT and how to problem solve with the information from a case history. We really felt that we had had a major breakthrough in their understanding. There is a real mutual understanding between us and we are sharing humour and jokes! All in all a very good morning.
We had agreed that we would have the afternoon off as they have lots of work to do and we wanted some prep time before our weekend away in Jinja. We are really looking forward to some well-deserved R&R.
The expected rain did not arrive. Another warm night. Last night we only had Tom and Dick, Harry must have found a new home.
Off to Mulago this morning with our taxi man Hassan. He was telling us all about the motor bike men called “boda bodas”. They weave in and out of the traffic making up the road rules as they go along. They can appear from anywhere, ignoring traffic lights and like the matatus if there is a traffic jam they will go on to the pavement to get to their destination. We have seen whole families on a boda bodas and it is quite common to see at least 3 people (including the driver) travelling round on them. Hassan told us that they are not a safe mode of transport and there are many accidents every year as not many of them wears a helmet. Most Ugandans we have spoken to know of someone who has had an accident and many of them are serious head injuries. When we walk back from the supermarket which is only 10 minutes away both the matatus and the boda bodas shout and wave and beep their horns to get us to use the transport.
Our taxi drivers have been great but the rules of the road are that people just cut you up all the time and it’s like a game of chicken as you force your way in and out of the traffic! Lorraine says if we ever get used to it, it is definitely time to come home.
Today we had a whole day on Downs Syndrome led by Lorraine. We had some great video to show them of children playing and eating and we had an interesting discussion about the place of Down’s syndrome people in society: sometimes agreeing to disagree.
As we have said we have defined roles and responsibilities. Lorraine irons and Julie cooks. We have two rings on a calor gas system. We never quite know what we are going to have as Julie has to make up a meal from what’s there without the usual store cupboard ingredients. So last night we had stir fry. Doesn’t sound very remarkable, necessity being the mother of invention, this is what was cooked:
Pan roasted Cashew nuts, then added one sweet potato (not like ours but white and not so soft but takes up flavours well), one orange pepper, some onion, garlic, a few green beans for some colour, and fried them off for a while and then a little later added a slightly under ripe avocado. When they had fried for a while I added soy sauce and some tropical juice out of the fridge for a sauce. So when it was served and Lorraine said it was ok then I asked her what she thought the secret ingredient was. I used a big spoonful of marmalade to give it some sweetness and made the sauce nice and syrupy.
Lorraine has enjoyed Julie’s cooking and has encouraged her to post some more "Brown Flat 2 ring recipes" in the Blog. So watch this space.
Later that night the power went off for 2 ½ hours and we had to work by kerosene lamp and torch light. The trouble with the power going off is that the fans go off and the kerosene lamp puts out heat so we were sweating and cooking whilst we worked on the computer by torch light. We were very pleased to hear from both of our husbands that night. Julie was relieved to hear about her mum who went in for surgery on Monday. She hasn’t been too well or comfortable in the last few days but there are signs of improvement. She will be staying in hospital until next week although it is quite hard being out here and not being able to see her. I know the rest of the family are looking after her very well.
Lorraine is teaching tomorrow on Epilepsy.
March 25th Friday
We had 5 out of 6 students this morning and two of the students knew a lot about epilepsy and we had a productive sharing of information. It was a very lively session and we appreciated the contributions that the students made. The second part of the morning was looking at case histories of children with a learning disability. There was real evidence from the students that they were beginning to understand the multi-faceted approach of being an SLT and how to problem solve with the information from a case history. We really felt that we had had a major breakthrough in their understanding. There is a real mutual understanding between us and we are sharing humour and jokes! All in all a very good morning.
We had agreed that we would have the afternoon off as they have lots of work to do and we wanted some prep time before our weekend away in Jinja. We are really looking forward to some well-deserved R&R.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Week 3 and more than half way!
March 21st
Thank you to all who posted comments on the Blog. Can't tell you how supportive that feels and its great to know that you are following our exploits.
Beginning of a new week and we have planned two days of Dysphagia. We did normal swallow and treated the students to banana yoghurt, crunchy crackers and some dried chewy banana chips to practise their eating and chewing skills and help them appreciate some of the difficulties our children with disability might have. There was a very African thunderstorm last night and I said to Lorraine that I was very worried about Tom, Dick and Harry! They perch right on the top of the tree and I can’t explain why they don’t get struck by lightning. In the middle of the night I did consider getting up to see what was happening and then thought better of it and went back to sleep.
March 22nd.
Today is revision day as the students have their first internal exam on Wednesday. The first one is based around a case study of a child with cerebral palsy. We have given them lots to think about so I hope we have given them enough information so that they can pass. The final University exams are in May.
As we let them go home a bit early it also gave us some extra time at home. Lorraine has a small video camera so she had a wander around the flat recording for posterity our time in the Brown Flats!
We had some down time that evening watching a DVD accompanied by chocolate a cuppa as we thought we deserved it.
March 23rd.
Exam day for the students.
They have to work in very difficult circumstances. The internal exam is taken in the room where we teach. As we have said there is no lighting and there is only one table in the middle of the room and some of them are writing with paper and a book resting on the knee. The outside corridor is noisy and there is a television just outside which can be quite loud and is on to entertain the waiting patients. They had plenty of time and most finished in about an hour and a half. The good news for me is that my part of the module is now finished and it is over to Lorraine.
Around the hospital today there seems to be more washing laid everywhere by relatives than ever. The day has been warm and sunny and we haven’t had rain for over 24 hours so everyone is taking advantage of it. After a warm day it is almost inevitable that we will get a thunderstorm.
We had a longer break today and I have been trying chai which is a Ugandan tea with ginger in it. It was very nice and I had a doughnut which was still warm but rather solid and sticks to your ribs. I think that is typical of most Ugandan food that it is solid and filling.
Today Lorraine saw a hospital porter moving 4 huge vats of steaming matoke covered by banana leaves through the hospital. It could probably feed a small army!
We are still a source of fascination rather than the WOW factor; we are still waiting for any evidence of that. People still stare as they pass us whilst we are waiting for our lift home and the children are particularly curious. Some of them wave and say “hello” and in best Uganda style we respond and then they get shy and giggle. Lorraine says they are more puzzled by me because of the fair hair. There is a school nursery matatu which arrives about 4 o’clock as we are going home and we now have a bus load of children giving us a shout and a wave. Yesterday whilst we were doing our household chores we had the door to the flat open and the little boy across the landing was crawling about and when he got to his door grill pulled himself up and shouted to us. When we first came he was struck dumb by our appearance but he’s used to us and wants our attention. We have both decided he is absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS!
We have done our planning and whilst writing up this journal we have been watching a fantastic lightning storm which has played across the sky for the last 45 minutes, but strangely no thunder to go with it. I think we are going to have a big rain storm tonight!
Will I need to check on T, D and H? I will let you know.
Thank you to all who posted comments on the Blog. Can't tell you how supportive that feels and its great to know that you are following our exploits.
Beginning of a new week and we have planned two days of Dysphagia. We did normal swallow and treated the students to banana yoghurt, crunchy crackers and some dried chewy banana chips to practise their eating and chewing skills and help them appreciate some of the difficulties our children with disability might have. There was a very African thunderstorm last night and I said to Lorraine that I was very worried about Tom, Dick and Harry! They perch right on the top of the tree and I can’t explain why they don’t get struck by lightning. In the middle of the night I did consider getting up to see what was happening and then thought better of it and went back to sleep.
March 22nd.
Today is revision day as the students have their first internal exam on Wednesday. The first one is based around a case study of a child with cerebral palsy. We have given them lots to think about so I hope we have given them enough information so that they can pass. The final University exams are in May.
As we let them go home a bit early it also gave us some extra time at home. Lorraine has a small video camera so she had a wander around the flat recording for posterity our time in the Brown Flats!
We had some down time that evening watching a DVD accompanied by chocolate a cuppa as we thought we deserved it.
March 23rd.
Exam day for the students.
They have to work in very difficult circumstances. The internal exam is taken in the room where we teach. As we have said there is no lighting and there is only one table in the middle of the room and some of them are writing with paper and a book resting on the knee. The outside corridor is noisy and there is a television just outside which can be quite loud and is on to entertain the waiting patients. They had plenty of time and most finished in about an hour and a half. The good news for me is that my part of the module is now finished and it is over to Lorraine.
Around the hospital today there seems to be more washing laid everywhere by relatives than ever. The day has been warm and sunny and we haven’t had rain for over 24 hours so everyone is taking advantage of it. After a warm day it is almost inevitable that we will get a thunderstorm.
We had a longer break today and I have been trying chai which is a Ugandan tea with ginger in it. It was very nice and I had a doughnut which was still warm but rather solid and sticks to your ribs. I think that is typical of most Ugandan food that it is solid and filling.
Today Lorraine saw a hospital porter moving 4 huge vats of steaming matoke covered by banana leaves through the hospital. It could probably feed a small army!
We are still a source of fascination rather than the WOW factor; we are still waiting for any evidence of that. People still stare as they pass us whilst we are waiting for our lift home and the children are particularly curious. Some of them wave and say “hello” and in best Uganda style we respond and then they get shy and giggle. Lorraine says they are more puzzled by me because of the fair hair. There is a school nursery matatu which arrives about 4 o’clock as we are going home and we now have a bus load of children giving us a shout and a wave. Yesterday whilst we were doing our household chores we had the door to the flat open and the little boy across the landing was crawling about and when he got to his door grill pulled himself up and shouted to us. When we first came he was struck dumb by our appearance but he’s used to us and wants our attention. We have both decided he is absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS!
We have done our planning and whilst writing up this journal we have been watching a fantastic lightning storm which has played across the sky for the last 45 minutes, but strangely no thunder to go with it. I think we are going to have a big rain storm tonight!
Will I need to check on T, D and H? I will let you know.
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