The Kafuro & Liss Blog – The blog where Kafuro Primary School and the Federation of Liss Schools share their learning.

Uganda 2025: Trip Reflections

Still here? If you’re reading this, then thanks for sticking with me through this year’s adventures in Uganda. After a very intense 13 days (including travel), I’ve now had a day or so to reflect on this particular trip so, in no particular order, these are some of my thoughts:

Despite some issues with punctuality, the direct service from Gatwick to Entebbe with Uganda Airlines was great. The planes were modern, the staff professional and friendly, and the food pretty food as well.

Some of the changes in Uganda in seven years have been dramatic, none more so than how internet speeds have increased. Although I didn’t see any broadband infrastructure, MTN and Airtel (the two big phone companies) had 5G all over Entebbe and Kampala and increasingly across western Uganda as well. Even at Kafuro I could get a reasonable stream of messages which was almost impossible nearly seven years ago.

Another positive difference in terms of communication is that as smartphones become more affordable, communication by social media such as WhatsApp has become much easier. This has already proved effective in allowing children to share learning and will continue to do so. It will also allow us to set up a Kafuro community group where all the stakeholders in the school from both the UK and Uganda can have a voice in the continuing relationship between the two schools.

Globalisation is starting to affect Uganda. It has become much more commercial, in Entebbe and Kampala you can access their equivalent of Deliveroo. The Premier League is everywhere and, whereas before only a few people watched it on tv, now most bars and cafes have Supersport Africa showing most of the games live.

One of the side effects of the globalisation is just how much more waste (especially plastic) is being produced. Kampala was filthy and many of the towns and villages were not much better. Uganda urgently needs to put in place some recycling infrastructure or the major companies need to do more. We saw a token coca – cola plastic recycling plant passing through Kampala on our return to Entebbe but that is nowhere near enough. Through the clean – ups organised by Stu along with local teachers, we could see an immediate impact when a community worked together. Now we need to ensure that sustainable long – term solutions are put in place. We have ideas but it’s not going to be easy.

This has not been the first trip in which I have seen strong women in Uganda. They have always been there, and their resilience and fortitude to make the most of life (sometimes under very difficult circumstances) is awe – inspiring. The difference this time is that there appears to be a new generation of women coming through who are beginning to question the status quo and look for other ideas from beyond Uganda’s borders. Benadette is a case in point, who, after hearing about some of the differences between Uganda and the UK, immediately questioned why. The difficulty I can see is that Uganda is such a patriarchal society, it is going to be a real struggle beyond any tokenism unless there is real change.

The main purpose of my visit was to physically reconnect with the pupils and staff of Kafuro Primary School, but also the community. This was complete success and I was overwhelmed and humbled by the strength of the welcome wherever I went. There was also the very strong sense that the community really care about the school, but the lines of communication need improving (this is a development issue for many UK schools as well).

Long – term impact was a recurring theme on this trip. We saw the effect on many of the UWA rangers that Steve has trained or hosted, with lots of them having risen to positions of seniority within the organisation. In Wilber, Razzaq and Gloria, we also saw three former pupils who have benefitted from their interactions with the twinning project and are flourishing as young adults. They are bright, articulate, charming and funny – it was a complete pleasure spending time in their company and I look forward to seeing all their future achievements.

Before I finish this final blog post, I’d like to say a massive thank you to all our Ugandan friends old and new for contributing so much to what has been such an enjoyable trip. Old friends, rangers, community members, school children, parents, hotel staff, teachers and the general public have all been so welcoming. A special mention to Anthony Mukama who has worked tirelessly at Kafuro to get them ready for this visit. It has been absolutely brilliant working with him for the last 15 months.

I’d like to thank my travelling companions for putting up with me over the 13 days and for constantly making me laugh. Torin has been to Uganda before as a 7 year old, but I get the real impression that this was the trip in which the enormity of what he was experiencing really hit home. He constantly made us all laugh and his ‘odd couple relationship’ with Anthony regularly cracked me up as well as his attempts to wind up Steve which led to 12 days sustained banter.

Stu and I have now been on several trips together and we regularly get up to all sorts of mischief together. This year was no exception! Even more importantly, Stu has very broad shoulders and he does lots of little things that take the weight off the shoulders of others – sometimes literally because he’s a very strong man, but often things such as taking photos and circulating them, or recording a meeting so you can remember what you said. As well as being this year’s resident Rastafarian to the great delight of many Ugandans, Stu always comes up with great advice in times of need.

In many ways, Steve Peach made this trip for me. I was delighted when he said he was coming because he such a font of knowledge particularly anything wildlife – related, but also because he gives really wise counsel while never taking himself or any situation too seriously. Watching Steve interact with anyone from the smallest child to the oldest adult is a joy – he knows how to treat people with dignity while always retaining a fierce sense of humour. Knowing Steve had my back throughout the trip gave me a huge confidence boost.

Ronnie ‘Lebron’ Musabe is our Ugandan legend. Arguably the best networked man I have ever met, he kept us constantly entertained while making sure we were properly looked after and safe. I hope to see Ronnie back in the UK very soon for some fish and chips!

Finally, when I booked this trip I mentally prepared for this to possibly be my last visit. I can safely say that I was totally wrong, the flame that was still burning for Uganda is now a raging inferno and the trip has totally reinvigorated me. With apologies to the whole country (apart from two people), who after 13 years still can’t understand me, I’ll be back!

The Uganda 2025 crew with Sarah at Murchison Falls

Uganda 2025 Day 13: The LONG journey home

The title of this penultimate blog post is a little unfair as due to direct flights to London being restored, it took far less time to get back home than many of my previous visits. Having packed the previous night, my alarm went off at 06.00. Within 45 minutes we were all ready to go and set off for the airport.

Entebbe Airport is a nightmare at the best of times. You have to go through a security check when you reach the outskirts of the airport, then another one when you arrive and then another one after you have dropped your bags off. Clearly, the Ugandan authorities were leaving nothing to chance.

I still felt unwell when I woke up and had taken a couple of pills to try and stop the symptoms. As we sat in a cafe close to our boarding gate, I began to feel really poorly and needed to take another pill to stabilise my condition. This appeared to do the trick although I felt absolutely exhausted. We boarded the plane on time and I immediately went to sleep. When I woke up again, we were still on the tarmac – a 90 minute delay as someone’s passport had been left in their hold luggage and all the cargo had to be taken off, the passport found, and then loaded on again.

When we did eventually take off, I slept for most of the first half of the flight. It’s at times like this that you realise what a huge continent Africa is because when I did wake up we still had a couple of hours flying until we reached the Mediterranean. Part of the problem we have is because of how misrepresentative maps are – I would advise any adults reading this to look at the link below.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/22/the-guardian-view-on-africa-and-maps-drawn-true-its-scale-and-promise-cant-be-ignored

We made up about 50 minutes of lost time by the time we landed at Gatwick. Passport control was breeze, but the baggage collection took an age – our bags and suitcases were some of the last to come through. Because of this we missed the train we were planning to catch and then had a 40 minute wait until the next one.

When the train did eventually arrive, to our surprise it was absolutely packed and with loads of drunk people on board. It was only when we got to Worthing that space became available.

At 21.26 BST (23.26 Ugandan time), we finally arrived back at Havant to be met by our loved ones. It had been a long day, but it was good to be home.

There’s one final blog post to come with some thoughts and reflections which will be published soon.

Uganda 2025 Day 12: Ups and downs

After an early breakfast, we decided that we would go out present shopping as we all had gifts we wanted to pick up for our nearest and dearest. Our first stop was Victoria Mall in Entebbe where I picked up some special Ugandan chocolate for Heather, my better half, and some biscuits for my new class. I was also looking to buy some Nile Special to take home, but (and this I can barely believe) they didn’t have any. We stopped for a drink at a restaurant called CJ Javas where I had a fresh lemonade, but with ginger juice and a cane sugar syrup which I could add to it. Needless to say, it was delicious.

Our next stop was along the road where there was a block of 10 craft stalls. In Uganda, you are not allowed to visit one, you are harassed until you visit all ten! I knew what to expect so I took it all in good humour. I managed to pick up some patchwork giraffes for Heather and a present for my great – nephew which I was very pleased with.

From there, we moved to a market closer to the airport where they had a supermarket which sold Nile Special. However, the process of buying the Nile was not straightforward. The lady on the till said that I had to return four empty bottles before I could purchase four more. When I explained that I hadn’t previously bought any bottles from the supermarket, she called her manager. After a lot of pleading on my behalf, she eventually agreed to sell me the bottles and I paid a deposit on the empties. All I had to do was to get the bottles back to the UK unbroken.

Anthony Mukama was in the area as he and his sons were attending a scout jamboree to celebrate 110 years of scouting in Uganda. We decided to go to Entebbe Zoo as Henry, Anthony’s younger son had not been there before.

To be brutally honest, on this occasion the zoo was not an experience that I enjoyed very much. For a start, it was packed and it appeared to be a place where people came to be seen with many people showing little interest in the wildlife. Secondly, having been in the bush up close to many of the same animals, it seemed very controlled and sanitised. Thirdly, in the chimpanzee area, many of the people were shouting, throwing bananas at the chimps and stressing them – the animals weren’t allowed any dignity. Steve and I discussed this – he felt the same as me about the dignity, but also argued that many Ugandans can’t afford to go and see the animals in the wild. Likewise, if people want to come to the zoo to be seen – that’s up to them. The money a zoo makes helps conservation across Uganda.

The final reason, I was not enjoying the experience so much was that I was beginning to feel unwell. A germ was beginning to affect my system and that’s all I will say!

An unexpected positive from the zoo visit was we met a lady called Stella who specialised in recycling plastic bottles to make bags, holders, flags – even Christmas trees. We made sure that Anthony took her number to see if she would be available to come out to Kafuro in the future and pass on her skills.

Anthony and his sons really enjoyed the zoo which was the most important thing, and we took them for a drink in Entebbe before they headed off again.

We were meeting Robert Ntegeka at CJ Javas for dinner as he had arrived back from Murchison Falls. Again, it was nice to catch up with him for the second time in a week. I’d only had fish once on this trip so I opted for a tilapia burger. Although I didn’t feel great, it was delicious.

After saying ‘goodbye’ to Robert we headed back to Silverback to pack for the final time. I knew I must be feeling unwell because I turned down Steve’s offer of a final Nile Special. Tomorrow is another early start as we need to be at the airport at 07.10 ready to fly home.

Victoria Mall
A spider at the zoo
Stella with a plastic cap flag
Tilapia burger…Yom!

Uganda 2025 Day 11: Giraffes

We were up at 05.00 to make sure we were ready for the game drive at 06.00. Sarah told us she would meet us at Red Chilli and she was there right on time. Watching Sarah at close quarters was inspirational, she knew exactly where to go to find animals and had a network of rangers calling in on her mobile with the latest sightings. Within five minutes, we had seen a hyena and within 20 minutes we found a pride of lions – two lionesses and their cubs. We had about 15 minutes viewing them before anyone else showed up and by that time the sun was rising and the lions were moving into the long grass out of sight of the cameras.

The big target was to see giraffes which are plentiful at Murchison. I was more than happy to view them at a distance, but Sarah was determined to do much better than that. We turned up one track and before too long we had a tower (the collective noun) of giraffes right in front of us. It was amazing to watch these strange, unworldly but beautiful creatures stare back at us before moving on their way.

On our way back from the drive we saw the most Ugandan kob I think I have ever seen as well as vultures and all sorts of other different birds as well as a giraffe crossing the road.

We were all incredibly grateful to Sarah for how hard she worked on our behalf to give us such an incredible experience. She was awesome and it was nice to make another new friend.

It was now time to head back to Entebbe on the final leg of our journey. We had packed and loaded the land cruiser before we left for the game drive, so after breakfast (the awesome Spanish omelette and sausage rolex again)we began the long drive south.

Stu had done all the driving in the park, so I took over for the first leg of the journey. Again, the driving conditions were ideal so I was able to make very good time. The roads were almost completely clear for the first three hours so i was really able to put my foot down. We stopped briefly at a garage to pick up some snacks then on the outskirts of Kampala so Torin could have his first muchomo (grilled meat skewered on a stick). At this point Steve took over the driving and at this point things started to go wrong (this is not the first time this has happened – read some previous trip reports for plenty of evidence). Almost immediately the traffic got heavier and then, when we were trying to reach the Kampala – Entebbe Expressway, we reached a full scale traffic jam. It took about 90 minutes to negotiate this and only 25 minutes afterwards to negotiate the last 36km.

We checked in again at the Silverback guesthouse where we had stayed on our first night. However, this time Steve and I had a twin room. Having stayed in Entebbe several times, I know it fairly well so I recommended we go to Goretti’s, a pizzeria on the shore of Lake Victoria. On previous visits I’d had some awesome pizzas there. We arrived as a Ugandan traditional drumming troupe began the first of two sets so conversation was difficult. The pizzas were fine, but didn’t reach the heights they di on my last visit to Goretti’s. Returning to Silverback, we have (at the moment) a quiet last day planned before flying home on Sunday.

Uganda 2025 Day 10: The Maelstrom

Today was incredible! It was a day where I got to see nature at its most powerful and its most elemental which thrilled me and scared me at the same time.

We got up reasonably early and went to Red Chilli for breakfast. As readers of this blog will know, my research into Ugandan rolex has been extremely thorough and today’s offering was an absolute gamechanger! The Spanish omelette rolex with sausage was absolutely amazing to taste and is by some distance the best rolex I’ve eaten on this trip so far. Steve, who also partook of this feast, was in complete agreement.

Our plans for the day were fairly vague. We were going to go to the UWA HQ at Murchison Falls to say ‘hello’ with a vague thought of doing a self – guided game drive later in the day. When we arrived, there was no one there, so we were just about to leave when a car pulled up and Africa Moses jumped out. Africa is another of the long serving rangers who we got to know at Queen Elizabeth National Park. He has also been to the UK and taken an assembly at Liss some years ago. At the moment, he is head of security at Murchison Falls. It was great to see him, and he promised to catch up with us later as he had a big meeting – this explained why there was no one there – but before he went, he got on the phone to one of the senior rangers to tell them to give us complete access to the park. This was absolutely brilliant and very generous. The reason why we were recipients of such generosity is all down to Steve. In many of his previous visits, Steve has led training for Ugandan rangers and has obtained an almost ‘legendary’ status. Stu, Torin and myself were extremely fortunate to be in his company.

Africa told us to drive down to the visitor centre where we were met by Sarah, an experienced ranger of 17 years – all spent at Murchison Falls, which is unusual as rangers tend to move around the parks. She reminded me a lot of our Ugandan friend Jackie, but a Jackie who had drunk about 10 cans of red bull as she was really loud and when Sarah laughed you thought your ears would explode. Our first port of call was the falls themselves. Sarah handed us over to a ranger called Humphrey and he walked us down to several viewing pints – one of which you get completely soaked. Photos and film cannot do justice to the sheer magnificence of the falls, but in my mind I have a vision of what it would be like to be sucked into the very depths of Hell. This was the closest I have come to seeing that vision for real. At this point in my life, I can honestly say that it is the single most impressive thing I have ever seen!

For the afternoon, Sarah organised a cruise up the River Nile . We boarded a 20 seat boat with a guide named Taban. From the start we could see hippos, buffalo and a few elephants, but when we saw the crocodiles, things got a bit scary. They were massive – far bigger than those I had previously seen in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It also felt fantastic just to be on the iconic River Nile. We were only a few miles downstream from Murchison Falls itself yet the water was completely calm, but as we got closer it began to get a bit more choppy.

We felt incredibly privileged to have this experience particularly with such a good guide as Taban and Paul, his driver.

We invited Sarah to join us at Red Chilli that night and she duly obliged. Sarah was just as funny off duty as she was on duty and kept us all royally amused. She offered to take us on a game drive tomorrow morning with a 06.00 start time if we wanted any chance of seeing lions. After the game drive we will be heading back to Entebbe.

Uganda 2025 Day 9: Did the earth move for you?

The main event of this day happened very early. I had just finished a call home (01.05 Ugandan time, 23.05 BST) turned out the light and got into the bed when I heard rumbling like the approaching of a lorry. Then, for the next 15 seconds or so, the whole house shook and it felt as if my bed was jumping up and down. As quickly as it had arrived, it was over.

I was pretty sure that we had experienced an earthquake, but I didn’t want to get it wrong otherwise Steve and the others would’ve spent the whole day taking the mickey out of me. Therefore, I made sure that I got up, showered and dressed and headed to Florence’s kitchen 15 minutes before we were all due to meet. I’d just began telling Florence what had happened when Steve burst into the kitchen and repeated exactly what I’d said. Steve’s daughter is an expert on earthquakes as well as many other things geology related, so when Steve said it was an earthquake and Florence agreed, I was really pleased that I’d experienced that phenomenon. Stu and Torin managed to sleep right through it!

My breakfast consisted of pineapple, watermelon and more of the lovely jam and wholemeal bread we’d had a few days earlier. After thanking Florence for her hospitality again (she is an absolute angel), we headed off for Murchison Falls.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning and I was going to drive the first leg of the journey. The quality of the roads was fantastic (only two potholes seen in the entire six hours) possibly due to some of the oil money that has come into this region of Uganda (there has been a lot of controversy about drilling at Murchison Falls and the environmental impact as well as the impact on wildlife that it may cause). We drove through some really nice looking villages which were a great deal cleaner than those we had seen in the west. We agreed that I would drive to Hoima (a bit of a dump if truth be told) and then Steve took over for the rest of the drive.

When we got to Murchison Falls, I thought that it would be a short drive to where we were staying but it was still 80km along an undulating, tarmacked road. There were baboons along much of the route inside the park – they didn’t appear the slightest bit bothered by us, they just stared with bored expressions.

Our home for the next two nights were a pair of bandas. Stu and Torin would share one, Steve and I the other. Once we were settled, we went out to eat. The local haunt was a restaurant called The Red Chilli. The food was nice, the beer was cold and the company was excellent. We were joined by Ronnie, who had finished his duties with his clients for the day and Robert Ntegeka, who had been a ranger in Queen Elizabeth National Park on my first trip and has subsequently moved on to various other jobs in the field of conservation. Currently, he is working for Total, the oil company, and compiling a report on the impact of the drilling on wildlife in Murchison Falls. Much of the time was spent catching up on events of the last couple of days and what Robert had been up to.

The unfortunate part of the evening was bites. Up to this point in the trip, I had more or less been left alone, but I was sure that my run of luck was going to end at some point. It was as if all the midges in Queen Elizabeth National Park had sent a message to their Murchison counterparts saying, “Here you are folks, feast on this!” And feast they did. My ankles, elbows and very painfully, the underside of my feet came in for the full treatment. I was not happy!

The other downside was that whereas in the rest of the places we’d been to, the internet was at least good – often excellent. Here it was almost non – existent. Stu, Torin and I were all on the same network, but Torin was the only one of us who had any signal. Hence the lateness of this post.

We returned to our banda to find several hippos and some cob in the vicinity. However, I was so tired I only wanted to sleep. Tomorrow, we are out and about in Murchison Falls.

Uganda 2025 Day 8: Follow the juice

Today was going to be a very busy day as we were due to be at Kafuro by 08.30 so that we could start the clean up on time. The previous night we had asked the staff at Ivanga to serve breakfast at 07.30. I had slept well for the second night running and it was an effort to drag myself out of bed and into the shower. However, everyone was ready to leave Ever Green Motel at 07.20. We reached Ivanga within 5 minutes but there was no sign of breakfast and no sense of urgency either. This isn’t something you can get angry about – it is futile and won’t change anything, it’s just the way Africa works.

Our breakfast eventually arrived at 08.00. Steve and I had both ordered the blended fruit juice, but Steve wanted his without the ginger that I have grown to love so much. The waitress knew this but almost deliberately put his juice down on the other side of the table. In despair, Steve just got up and moved to the other place – you don’t pass the juice, you follow the juice. We all laughed and adopted it as our phrase for today. Many Ugandan vehicles have motivational messages on the windscreen or the mudflaps – many of them would be improved by being replaced by ‘follow the juice!’

Anthony arrived on a boda boda at 08.15 and we set off for Kafuro. The sky was overcast but there appeared to be no imminent threat of rain and the road was much improved. At one point Stu and Anthony were talking about marriage in Uganda and the payment of a dowry. Anthony said something quite innocently that in the UK is a very rude double entendre and we all collapsed into laughter (I cannot repeat what he said as there are children reading this). I honestly thought Steve was going to crash the land cruiser as he was crying with laughter and physically shaking. Stu and I being the nice caring people we are, immediately took every opportunity to tease Anthony who was completely oblivious to what was going on. What made it even funnier is that all of the other Ugandans got the joke as well over the rest of the day.

We got to Kafuro at 09.05 but no one else was ready so there was no panic. It only took twenty minutes to organise the pupils by distributing gloves and facemasks, and many parents had turned out to help as well.

I thought that Katunguru was a mess yesterday, but Kafuro was a whole different level of a pigsty. Fortunately there were more people involved in the clean – up so we very quickly began to see a massive difference in the cleanliness of the village. We started with the school compound itself and then moved to the catholic church in one direction and the mosque in the other direction. It took a good couple of hours but by the end the village was a good deal cleaner. The target is for the school to install bins every 50 yards or so in the village made from recycled plastic bottles so that it is easier to dispose of waste.

Talk about marriage and dowries continued to be a form of conversation as we cleaned up and I had to explain to Benadette how giving a sum of money or land to the family of the bride didn’t happen any more. In rural Uganda, from what I worked out, the going rate is five cows. I also explained (and embarrassingly had to model) the process of a man going down on one knee and proposing to his girlfriend. As far as I understood, in Uganda this would not happen because it is a patriarchy. However, Benadette immediately began asking questions after I told her about the process and I don’t think it will be too long before women in Uganda start actively challenging the status quo.

When we got back to school the pupils were given soda and biscuits as a reward before going to their break time. Torin’s popularity at Kafuro has been massive, especially with girls around his age who have their eye on a mzungu husband. Whenever we pull up at the school there are cries of, “To – reen, To – reen” to the great amusement of everyone except Torin himself. Today he was being chased around the compound by a range of children aged from 4 – 14. Unencumbered by such attention, I went to check on the cob oven where Razaq had made good progress in building a shelter with timber and corrugated iron. The clay had dried out and was tacky but it was still not dry enough to apply a second layer. This meant that we would be unable to finish the cob oven while we were in Kafuro, but Razaq and Gloria promised a) to finish the cob oven and b) to lead a session where the children make pizza. I was delighted by this as it was another example of paying their learning forward and showing the long – term impact of the work we’ve done.

Once Torin had finished being chased by his legion of admirers, he started on a task I had given him – teaching the teachers how to play UNO so they could show the children. It didn’t take long for Torin to teach them and within twenty minutes the games had become incredibly competitive with howls of laughter. Ugandans (Benadette in particular), shuffle cards very aggressively and slam them down on the table. I have tasked Benadette and Julius (the PE teacher) with teaching the children. If they have anywhere near as much fun as the teachers did, they will make Fraser Munro proud! I’m going to bring more packs of UNO next time I visit Uganda.

We had been invited to lunch at Didacus’ house (the chairman of the school management committee). His wife had put on a lovely spread for us with a pork and potato casserole. Anthony, who eats more than any Ugandan I’ve ever met, helped himself to several portions while Stu and I continued to mine the rich seam of our joke at his expense. At one point I thought that I was going to have a heart attack as I was laughing so much while Stu was totally unable to look me in the eye and almost had to leave the room.

We found out that Didacus had given some land away so the Catholic Church could build a new school. We were invited to visit Glory to God Primary School where we were greeted with songs, speeches (I had to make one but it was less than a minute this time) and a tour of the school. One photo I took, I’m going to use for an assembly at school because it says an awful lot…I’ll leave it there for now.

Time was running out and we had to get back to Kafuro as I had photos to take and lots of goodbyes to say. We dashed back in the car and Anthony organised the classes so I could take photos of twinned year groups. I then thanked the children, exchanged lots of farewells and hugs with the staff and posed for a final photo. Parting, as ever, was a very emotional experience. The next hour was no better. We dropped Wilber and Anthony at Kyambura and there were two very sad goodbyes. Stu and I have supported Wilber for several years and he was going back to uni – it was sad to see him go. Anthony has been a total legend. His communication has been fantastic and he has worked tirelessly to restore the communication and shared learning between the two schools to what it was. I look forward to continuing to work with him. He has a great a great sense of humour and, when the joke was eventually explained to him, found it hilarious.

Our last drop – off was Gloria at Kasenyi and this was the most emotional. She wanted us to meet her mum, so we popped in quickly to say hello. Stu, Steve, my better half, Heather, and I had made the decision that we were going to support her to finish a tourism management course, so we gave her a small sum of money to help her do this. This was received with tears of joy and lots of hugs. I knew that Gloria was a resilient character but have subsequently found out how many challenges she has had to cope with in her 21 years. I am 100% confident that she will complete her course, join UWA (Ugandan Wildlife Authority) and be a massive success with them. When we dropped her off at work (Gloria holds down several jobs) it was a very sad farewell.

We were going to stay at Patrick Muwanga’s house again near Fort Portal, and it wasn’t long until it got dark so Steve drove quickly to Kasese. We picked up some washing from the Royal Imperial Hotel, got fuel and then set off again. I was driving the land cruiser for the first time and it was an enjoyable experience. We thought that we would probably be in Fort Portal by about 21.00 but I managed to get us there by 20.30. Fort Portal had really changed from when I was last there – lots of electronic billboards and flashing lights.

Florence, Patrick’s sister, greeted us and we had another nice meal before heading off to bed for a rare early night. Tomorrow, we are heading to Murchison Falls for some rest and relaxation.

Sorting out rubbish sacks
A big pile of rubbish
The clean up begins
A plastic bottle bin
Stu, Benadette, Iddi and Mr S
Mr Mukama showing some small fish that are deepfried a bit like whitebait
Torin and his UNO card school
African children are fascinated by mzungu skin colour
With Gloria’s family
With Gloria. Her progress has made us all so proud.
The cob oven now has a shelter and just needs a second layer of clay

Uganda 2025 Day 7: Clean – up, meet – up and Mr Stanley goes full African

For the first time on this trip, I slept really well. This was probably something to do with the fact that I was well behind with my blogging and I therefore didn’t go to sleep until after 01.00. My alarm went off at 06.00 and I was straight out of bed as I had to shower, get dressed, eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 07.30 as we had to be at Katunguru for 08.00.

We all had rolex for breakfast and there was common agreement that it was the best one yet – the chapatti was the right thickness and consistency with not too much oil and the omelette had just the right amount of vegetables. When we left the hotel, Kasese was really quiet – a byproduct of all the celebrating that had gone on overnight because of Arsenal’s win.

The journey to Katunguru was uneventful other than the fact that it was cool, overcast and there was the threat of persistent rain. It had rained overnight and the morning felt like a damp British day in March. We stopped off at Jackie’s shop to pick up water, soda and biscuits to give to all the children who were taking part in the clean-up. At first, I didn’t think that there were going to be many pupils involved, but the numbers gradually increased. I will be really honest here – Katunguru is a filthy place and this sums up much of Uganda. There is no recycling or waste collection infrastructure so people just throw their rubbish anywhere they want to. When rubbish is put in one place, it is incinerated which puts horrible toxins in the atmosphere – there is a lot of work to be done to improve matters.

We cleaned up the school compound first collecting all the rubbish in big sacks and then moved along the main strip in Katunguru. Local politicians, parents and the police all joined in – it was a case of many hands make light work. After a couple of hours, the whole village looked much better. The challenge now is to sustain this – introduce bins and ensure that people don’t just throw their rubbish on the ground.

While the clean-up was taking place, I received a very special visitor. Gloria Biira was a pupil at Kafuro who first came to the attention of my partner, Heather, and I on our trip to Uganda in 2017. We had built the first cob oven at Kafuro and she showed a natural aptitude for using it. When we returned the following year, Gloria basically organised her friends and cooked several pizzas without an input from either of us. In the end, we arranged for her and a friend to come to Mweya and cook in the kitchen at Tembo canteen. She was very shy then and didn’t speak a great deal of English, but it was made obvious that she had been very grateful for the opportunity. I had asked around and eventually managed to get hold of her number through Razzaq, who tuned out to be her uncle even though he is barely older than her – Ugandan family trees are very complicated.

Back to the present: a boda boda (motorbike) pulled up and a beautiful, confident young woman got off who waved to me. It was Gloria! She gave me a massive hug and spent the rest of the clean-up (we were still picking up rubbish – obviously) asking about what Heather and I had been up to for the past seven years and telling me what she was doing – she had finished secondary school and was now taking a college course in tourism management. Gloria’s English was now excellent and (uniquely among Ugandans) she could understand my south London drawl! I introduced her to the others in our group (some of whom she had met before) and stood back as she charmed them all. Gloria also had the rest of the day free so asked if she could come with us to Kafuro. We were more than delighted to take her.

Before we left, we had to say goodbye to Ronnie, who had new clients to pick up from Entebbe. We were going to meet with him again in Murchison on Wednesday night. Today was his birthday and Stu had bought Ronnie a proper birthday cake in Kasese yesterday. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Ronnie who was so pleased the grin didn’t disappear from his face for hours. Ronnie, being the lovely man he is, shared his cake with all the Katunguru pupils. We stopped off at the Katunguru headquarters of UWA to pick up Steve, who had been driven there for a meeting, before resuming our journey to Kafuro.

The journey to Kafuro was one that I will never forget. Steve had warned us that because of the persistent rain getting to Kafuro was going to be difficult particularly either side of the Kyambura river where the road is absolutely terrible. Even though we had a four – wheel – drive land cruiser with a very low gear ratio option, this was not a challenge for the faint – hearted.

Driving up to Kyambura was not a problem because the road was tarmacked and in good condition, but as soon as we reached Kyambura and the road turned to a dirt track, then the challenge began. Driving in an extremely low gear, Steve was able to get us down the hill (passing several stuck vehicles) and over the bridge. Climbing the opposite side was an even bigger challenge. The car was sliding all over the place and struggling for grip, but Steve performed miracles. He got us three – quarters of the way up the hill before he ran into so much mud that even the land cruiser got stuck. Fortunately, some local youths gave us a push and Steve managed to get us to the top of the hill. There was about five minutes relief before we hit the second really muddy dirt track. Again, we slid all over the road and at one point I thought that we were going to end up in a trench, but Steve kept us upright and moving.

I have the utmost respect for Steve anyway, but it has gone up to another level. We also got to experience an ultimate driving experience, for which other people would pay hundreds of pounds to attend, for nothing.

By the time we arrived at the school, it was nearly time for the meeting to begin. However, first I wanted to check on the progress of the cob oven. Razaq had done a great job – the base was now secure, the slabs had been fitted properly, he had added a sand mould and a first layer of clay. However, because of all the rain, the clay was still very wet and needed time to dry out before applying a second layer.

Despite the poor weather, the meeting was well attended and there was a long agenda. There were lots of speeches before mine mainly focusing on the gratitude towards the twinning project for the continued support of Liss pupils to the Kafuro community. By Ugandan standards, the meeting was going fairly briskly – then I stood up to speak!

Allowing time for translation, I spoke for nearly an hour (Liss pupils present and former are now holding their heads in their hands in despair). I had made notes so I was very clear about what I wanted to say which I will summarise below:

I thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.
I thanked the teachers both old and new for making me feel so welcome and then talked about how I could see the new young teachers really making a difference in terms of their ideas.
I spoke about the long-term impact of the association between the two schools and the differences it had made to pupils like Wilber, Razaq and Gloria, who were all in attendance.
I thanked Richard, the headteacher, Didacus, the chair of the management committee and Iddi, the chair of the PTA for their warm welcome.
I mentioned how constant communication had allowed the relationship between the schools to endure, while other twinned schools had fallen by the wayside. Further to this, our successful International Schools Award reaccreditation was due in no small part to the support Liss had from Kafuro in completing activities.
I talked about the reason why we were all present was because we cared passionately about the interests and education of the children in both schools. This was our priority and individual egos should be left at the door.
We discussed how shared learning enabled children at both schools to develop a world view and how we wanted to strengthen this further so both schools were seen a model for others.
I talked about expanding the shared learning to include other Ugandan schools to enrich the learning further.
I then moved on to drawing up a five year plan with Anthony to improve the school infrastructure which we would fundraise for at Liss through Treat Friday and other opportunities. I also insisted on the importance of clear financial transparency. In addition, I would set up a community WhatsApp group with all stakeholders represented.
I talked about the community helping to improve the school environment. If parents could not afford to pay school fees then maybe they could contribute time.
I finished off by saying that when all the stakeholders work together then they achieve more.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the speech was received and the questions I got at the end were actually statements of support. We were also given a performance by the school choir, expertly coached by one of the new teachers, Benadette.

The meeting finished up at 16.00 and before we returned back to the Ever Green Motel in Kichwamba, I arranged for Razaq to build a shelter for the cob oven to protect it from the rain. The journey home was still difficult, but with an afternoon without rain conditions were slightly better. It’s fair to say that Steve had earned his beer that night!

We checked in again at Ever Green ( I got my room back that I’d stayed in before) and then went for dinner with at Ivanga. We were joined by Yowasi (the first twinning coordinator at Kafuro thirteen years ago, who had made a significant contribution to the success of the partnership), his wife, Ruth and his friend who was a doctor. Yowasi now successfully runs his own school so it was nice to catch up with him.

By the time I got to bed, I was out on my feet. However, it had been a very successful day, which made the tiredness worth it.

Tomorrow is clean up Kafuro in the morning and some final goodbyes in the afternoon.

Uganda 2025 Day 6: From chimps to chumps.

Although we didn’t have to be up early, my sleep was once again fairly fitful despite being in a really comfortable bed. Once I had showered, dressed and packed, I headed to the dining room for breakfast. Florence had put out some lovely wholemeal bread baked in Fort Portal, a five-minute drive away. I had a couple of slices along with Ugandan strawberry jam, which is very thick but delicious.

After thanking Florence and saying a temporary goodbye (we’re back on Tuesday night) we set off for Kibale National Park again but this time we were heading to the visitor centre. There we were met by Moses Mpesa who had once spent the best part of two months on a ranger exchange to the UK and had lived with Steve and his family. Stu and I had a really nice surprise when a couple of minutes later, Kulu, who had been security officer at Queen Elizabeth National Park when we first visited thirteen years ago, arrived. Kulu, when in uniform, was one of the scariest individuals I have ever met and his handshake would nearly break your hand. In his civvies, Kulu is the loveliest person you could ever hope to meet and we were soon laughing about events that took place13 years ago.

Moses had arranged for us to go chimp trekking, so we said goodbye to Kulu and got ready for the trek. The ranger who led the trek was also called Florence and at first she struck me as being pretty strict. She insisted that we put on proper shoes and that we wore long trousers that were stuck into our socks. Stu had taken part in this activity before in a previous visit and it had been much more informal, but then we realised that a) she was taking her boss on the activity and b) we were seen as special guests so we should be flattered by the fact that she didn’t want anything bad to happen to us. Florence also gave us a safety talk and spent 95% of the time looking at me directly in the eye – I felt like a naughty schoolboy!

We had a gentle walk through the forest for about 25 minutes until we found one of the groups of chimpanzees and we got to witness them sleeping, fighting, looking for food and chasing after a female who was ready to mate. Florence told us what happened when chimpanzees go to war with each other and it was so horrible that I cannot repeat it here. Needless to say, when comparing the behaviour of humans and chimpanzees, I don’t think that we have evolved very much. When we headed back, Florence told us a bit more about some of the plants in the forest. For example, the leaves of the black pepper plant can be boiled in water to create a potion. When you poor the potion into a bath you can chant and ensure that you keep the person who bathes in it with you forever. Ugandan women apparently used to do this to keep hold of their husbands.

When we returned, we were given certificates for chimp trekking and we all had to make speeches. Steve spoke brilliantly about how he had hosted Moses in the UK many years ago and the commonality that binds rangers together wherever they are in the world. I talked about the fact that we never stop learning and thanked Florence for that I had learned today.

We left Kabale and headed back to Kasese via another scenic route. I thought the journey was taking a long time, but when we joined he main road we were only twenty minutes away from Kasese.

Ronnie had booked us rooms at the Royal Imperial Hotel which sounds posher than it actually was. Nevertheless, it had a comfy bed, good wifi and a shower that worked and produced hot water. Today was a massive day for Ugandans because it was Man Utd vs Arsenal in the Premier League. Both teams are the most popular in Uganda and many families are divided down the middle according to who they support. Ronnie is a massive Arsenal fan but his brothers support Man Utd. We went to watch the first half at another hotel while we had something to eat – I had a lovely steak sandwich. When Arsenal scored, there was a roar across the whole town. Personally, I though Man Utd were the better team but one error from the goalkeeper cost them. We returned to the Royal Imperial for the second half, but there was no change in the score. It was a very happy Ronnie on the final whistle and he told us that Arsenal fans would be celebrating long into the night.

With the football over (it was 20.30 Ugandan time) we retired to our rooms to get some sleep ready for a busy Monday with Clean Up Katunguru and a parents’ meeting at Kafuro to come.

The view of the charcoal market from Torin’s balcony room!

Uganda 2025 Day 5: On top of the world

For the first time on this trip we had a comparative lie in and didn’t meet for breakfast until 09.00. As we had the weekend off we were heading to Kibale National Park and were going to stay at the house of Patrick Muwanga, a good friend of the twinning project who has known Steve Peach for many years.

I ordered a bacon sandwich for breakfast but it was delivered in the form of a club bacon sandwich with added cheese. It was delicious. I also have to mention the fruit juices we have been getting for breakfast. They have been delicious – freshly squeezed with a good shot of warming ginger.

After breakfast we set off for Kibale stopping off briefly at Katunguru to see Jackie’s shop and then again at Kasese to pick up a bit of shopping. Both towns have had a significant amount of new buildings while Kasese has had street lights installed and marran roads replaced by tarmac. It looked a great deal better. I managed to buy some mozzarella cheese for pizzas keeping up my 100% success rate of finding them in Uganda. After filling up the land cruiser with fuel we headed off again. Before we left Kasese, we visited Rihamu Junior School which is twinned with Hambledon Primary School. I really liked Tracy, the new headteacher at Rihamu, and the children were absolutely charming. They performed a poem and a dance for us and we left them some sports equipment. I’m hoping that someof the learning we share with Kafuro, we can also share with them.

The next hour was fairly uneventful and I was struggling to stay awake. Then Ronnie took the car off the main road and we followed a back road towards Kabale – the scenic route. All scenery in Uganda is pretty spectacular but Ronnie managed to show us some magnificent crater lakes. When we reached Kibale National Park, we stopped off to do a community walk which I was told would take between 90 minutes and two hours. What I wasn’t told was that it would be a hike up and down a number of extremely steep sides of extinct volcanoes. For the next hour my lungs were screaming as I tried to take in enough air to fill them and my heart rate was going through the roof. The pay-off was reaching a point called ‘The top of the world’ where you had a panoramic view of three crater lakes. We took some group photos which I don’t want to see (and I suspect Steve doesn’t want to either) as we were both a sweaty mess. Torin, who had walked up in a pair of sliders (I thought he was insane), looked as fresh as a daisy.

The rest of the route back to where we started was mainly a gentle downhill slope and relatively uneventful other than meeting lots of small children asking for sweets (Italian tourists give them loads and we didn’t have any). We met one man who had four massive sacks stuffed with avocados, which were at least twice the size of those we get in supermarkets in the UK. When I told him how much one avocado would sell for in a UK supermarket, he nearly fainted. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Ugandan fruit and veg is incredible – pineapple, watermelon and avocado are so much tastier than what we get in UK supermarkets and a whole lot bigger.

From the park we drove to Patrick Muwanga’s house where we were met by his sister, Florence, who is an absolute angel. She made us feel so welcome and treated us like kings. I had a fantastic meal of beef stew with (Irish) potatoes and mixed vegetables. Florence was very interested in what we had been up to so, over a couple of beers, Steve, Stu and I brought her up to speed with our adventures. For the first time on this trip we had the opportunity for an earlier night so I turned in with lots of blogging to catch up on.

Tomorrow, we are going chimp trekking in Kibale National Park before returning to Kasese to watch Man Utd vs Arsenal, the match with the most meaning to Ugandans.