Trips – The Kafuro & Liss Blog

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 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 4: Razaq saves the day

Another fitful night’s sleep but I was up showered and ready to go to breakfast for 8.00am. After rolex overload for the previous couple of days I decided to go with bacon, sausage (beef sausage not pork) a fried egg and toast. Very nice it was too.

Just as yesterday, Anthony arrived at the hotel for 9.00am and we drove out to Kafuro. Because there had been no rain in the previous 24 hours, the roads were a fair bit easier to navigate and we got to Kafuro quickly.

The village was much quieter than yesterday but as we drove into school we were quickly surrounded by pupils again. Steve and Ronnie were going for a meeting at UWA HQ in Katunguru while Stu, Torin and I stayed at school. The program for the morning was to go down to the school playing field (shared with two other schools) which was 2km away and then to commence the building of the cob oven after lunch. The base had been raised to the correct height but the base slabs hadn’t been cleaned off levelled or laid flush to each other. Anthony made the necessary phone calls and was assured that the work would be finished by the time that we got back.

To say the pupils were very excited about going down to the playing fields was a massive understatement, and there was a massive cheer when we started off. Many of the pupils started singing songs and a couple of the boys started taking the mickey out of my sarf London drawl. Back in the UK walking 2km is something I do without thinking about it, but in the high altitude of Uganda and in Kafuro which is basically at the top of an exploded ancient volcano, added to the fact that I was really tired already, made the walk a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, I was distracted by a local journalist, who had heard about our arrival and wanted to interview me with a particular focus on our impact in the community. He was very impressed when he saw Stu and Torin lead the tag rugby warm up while I went through some netball drills with some of the girls. Uganda are one of the top ranked netball teams in the world and this is no surprise to me as they are so athletic. If they had access to the training facilities we have in the UK I’m sure they would wipe the floor with us.

When the tag rugby warm up finished groups of pupils prepared to play games and then something wonderful happened. Most of the Kafuro Tag Rugby team from when I was last in Uganda had come down to watch and they offered to take over the coaching led by Razaq, the former captain. They did a brilliant job and before too long the pupils were making great progress even to the point where the footballers came over to come and watch. CM Sports and Liss pupils spent a lot of money seven years ago on rugby equipment and training, and today we saw its long – term impact.

When Steve and Ronnie arrived back from their meeting, the games session ended and Torin and Stu went off with them to Mweya to carry out some mongoose trekking. Anthony told me we were going to be taking a short cut back to school so I walked with him along with two pupils, the sports teacher from Kafuro (whose name I cannot remember – sorry!) and Benadette who is the nursery teacher. Benadette was really interesting person. She’s about the only teacher who doesn’t come from the immediate area surrounding the school. She grew up near Kabale in the middle of the country but in order to find work she had to move to a rural area which was Kafuro. She was also fairly unique among Ugandans I’ve met in questioning the natural order of things. She can see unfairness and wants change in her country. If Benadette is typical of a new generation of Ugandans coming through then the country is destined for a bright future.

Our short cut involved walking up the side of the dormant volcano that now formed the crater lake near to the school. This was a route I’d never taken before and the views in all directions were some of the best I’ve seen in my life. The photos that you will see below do no justice to them. At one point, we walked along a very narrow ridge with an almost sheer drop into the crater lake on one side and enough of a drop on the other side to hurt myself. I don’t particularly like exposed heights so I was walking very carefully. I walked even more carefully when Anthony explained that sometimes crocodiles attack the goats that graze on the side of the crater lake. He also told me that the government had given a big cement company the contract to quarry part of the volcano so they can take the limestone to make cement. I just hope that it doesn’t ruin an area of outstanding natural beauty but I’m not confident.

We passed lots of coffee plants on our way back to school and fields being prepared for cotton crops. Benadette also showed me some massive lemongrass plants. The Ugandans use the leaves to make a fragrent tea. We kept encountering villagers who wanted to shake my hand or thank me for teaching their pupils in the past. It was very humbling that so many people have remembered me after all this time.

When we got back to school we had lunch which was tilapia with fresh vegetables. Ugandans eat the most of any people that I’ve ever encountered and Anthony ate about three times as much as me. Then again, when the food is as fresh and tasty as Ugandan fruit and veg and produced in such quantities, why wouldn’t you?

The cob oven base still hadn’t been finished and by now I was getting quite frustrated because I knew that there was only limited time to get everything finished and working by Tuesday particularly as the thick clay needs plenty of drying time. Anthony was still trying to find the person responsible for building but had no luck, so in the end we went to see Idi, the chair of the PTA. When we got to Idi’s house, Razzaq was there with one of his friends, Isaac. They came to look at the cob oven and with a bit of instruction from me, they began to work. Within half an hour they had cleaned off the slabs, got them level and flush and were busy cementing them to the bricks. I was incredibly grateful to them both, but not to the builder who eventually showed up at 5.00pm. Mr Stanley had to get out his death stare, and the money was repaid to be given to Razaq and Isaac. It will be a tight schedule with everything that’s happening at the beginning of next week, but hopefully I will have the cob oven finished and working by the end of Tuesday.

By this time, the others had returned from Mweya, and we drove back to Ever Green. That night we were meeting two old friends: Ramathan, who is deputy head at Katunguru Primary School which used to be twinned with Hartplain Jnr, and Jackie who we have known for almost as long who used to be a waitress at Tembo Canteen on Mweya when we used to eat there every day. She now lives in Katunguru and is really good friends with Ramathan. We had a really lovely evening catching up and reminiscing about past events we have shared together. I went to bed grateful for the extended Ugandan family I have become part of over the last 13 years.

Uganda 2025 Day 2: Changes all over

My first night in Uganda was one of interrupted sleep. As nice as the room was (and it was lovely), the motel was close to the airport and at Entebbe planes land and take off through the night. A further interruption was caused by a cockerel who decided that the morning should begin at 04.30 and then reminded the world every 15 seconds.

My alarm went off at 06.30 and I crawled out of bed and into the shower. The tepid water woke me up and half an hour later I was fully dressed, packed and ready for breakfast. This being Uganda, I ordered a rolex (for those in the UK who aren’t Yr 6 leavers, a rolex is slang for rolled eggs – a vegetable omelette wrapped in a chapatti) which duly arrived. It was very tasty but not as salty as I’d come to expect.

Any Year 6 leavers who are reading this may well afford themselves a wry smile at the next bit (I can imagine Kristina rolling her eyes!). We loaded up the land cruiser and left the motel only to get a phone call five minutes later saying that someone had left their wallet and binoculars. Momentarily, I panicked and thought it might be me, but I felt my wallet in my pocket and knew that I hadn’t taken my binoculars out of my suitcase. When we got back we found out that it was Stu. When Year 6 were at Calshot, we talked about how when you are in an unfamiliar environment with new routines to learn you sometimes forget things or make mistakes under time pressure. Well, it happens to adults too!

Our first port of call was with the UWA (Ugandan Wildlife Authority) at their HQ in Kampala. Normally, the drive would take about 90 minutes because Kampala has an almost permanent rush hour and the traffic barely moves. Fortunately, six years ago the Entebbe Kampala expressway opened which is a toll road. For cars the cost of using the road is 5000 UGX (Shillings) which is about £1.05. However, for most people in Kampala that is a lot of money so the road was almost deserted. Driving along the pristine surface was a bizarre almost soulless experience. When we came off the expressway, the real Kampala asserted itself in all its glory. The stench of diesel and dust pervaded the air, vehicles broke down in front of us and just about everyone ignored the rules of the road. Ronnie is one of the best and most experienced drivers I’ve ever known but even he was waving his hands in exasperation.

When we got to UWA HQ we were expecting to be kept waiting a long time for a meeting with the executive director, but to our surprise we were invited in immediately and given a warm welcome. James, the executive director, is a former teacher so was really interested in how Liss works with Kafuro. We also met Eric, the chief warden for Katunguru (close to Kafuro) and he invited us to meet with him tomorrow after we have finished our business at Kafuro. The marketing executive for UWA came into our meeting, took photos for publicity and invited us to sponsor one of 47 rhinos that they are about to release into the wild. If you are prepared to stump up $10,000 you are able to name the rhino. She invited us to visit the sanctuary where they are kept and also gave Torin a baseball cap and polo shirt.

We left UWA HQ at 10.20 and then went to a local mall to exchange money. One of the changes in the seven years since I last visited soon became apparent – there is now a proliferation of brands for most goods. We walked into a supermarket to buy water and I counted 9 different brands. Last time I visited, there were only two – Rwenzori and Aquasipi. There were also more shops dealing in ‘luxury’ goods. I got a strong sense that Ugandans are becoming more aspirational/globalised in terms of materialism particularly in Kampala. I bought a bag of crisps and a Stoney (a half litre brand of fizzy ginger beer) which cost me about 80p! Next, I changed my money and for the next 10 days I will be a multi – millionaire as I now have nearly two and a half million shillings.

We travelled to Queen Elizabeth National Park on the southern route which I last used 13 years ago. The road was fast in places but there was also lots of roadworks which slowed us down. At about 13.00 we reached the equator. Last time I travelled this road, we didn’t stop, but this time we did to take photos and we also visited a local restaurant for lunch. I opted for a chicken rolex, which was salty yet delicious. I think some of the Rolexes that Yr 6 invented back in the spring would be big sellers in Uganda.

After lunch, we set off again trying to get to Mbarara where Stu and I would be able to get sim cards and data for our phones. Luckily for me, most restaurants and motels/hotels have free wifi so I have been able to communicate with family and friends. Seven years ago this was not the case. When Ronnie stopped for petrol, the next change in Uganda struck me. The multi – national companies running garages such as Shell and Total have invested a great deal of money in setting up coffee shops or small bakeries attached to each of the garages. When I last visited Uganda, garages were something you only visited to buy fuel, but this has changed dramatically. Ronnie got back into the car after refuelling with his cup of hot coffee so coffee culture is clearly sweeping through Uganda. They are not just producers of coffee but also increasingly consumers.

We had two additional encounters on our journey. Ronnie had spoken to a local tour guide who told him that a shoe – billed stork had been seen in a field not far away. For those interested in birding, the shoe – billed stork is No. 1 on the list of the 800+ species of birds in Uganda to photograph so to see one was a real privelege. We also passed a reservation where zebras from Lake Mburo reside, but we didn’t stop as we concluded that they are not really in the wild.

We weren’t going to reach Mbarara in time to get sim cards for our phones but Ronnie managed to find a town with an MTN shop (MTN is the best network for signal and data in the part of Uganda we are staying). The process of getting the sims was a bit long – winded but after about half an hour we were on our way again.

From this point on, Ronnie really put his foot down, the roads were clearer and there was less traffic. We flashed past Mbarara and then headed north towards the national park through Ishahka. We stopped briefly here to meet Wilber who is a former Kafuro student now at university training to be a secondary teacher. Stu and I are sponsoring him through his degree. He was very pleased to see us – we got a quick update on his progress and then we had to move on again.

Before we reached Kichwamba where we were staying, we had one more stop to make at a small village called Bururuma where Anthony Mukama, the headteacher of Kafuro, lives. There had been a dramatic change earlier in the afternoon when Anthony had sent me a message telling me that he had been transferred to a new school (this happens often in Uganda) and Richard Mugarura was the new headteacher – Richard was previously headteacher of the school about seven or eight years ago and actually lives in Kafuro. However, Anthony was going to accompany us to Kafuro on the days we were visiting the school.

At about 19.30 we finally reached our motel in Kichwamba – the Ever Green Motel. We were given a very friendly welcome and were shown to our rooms which were lovely. They didn’t serve food at the motel so we drove up the road to another hotel. I was still full from my chicken rolex earlier so just had a quiet beer.

After two days of almost non – stop travel, it was sweet relief to plop my head down on the pillow. Tomorrow will be our first day at Kafuro which I am looking forward to immensely.

Uganda 2025 Day 1: 4100 miles, 3000 steps

Greetings from Entebbe where we arrived earlier tonight after what has been a very long, but fascinating day. I was woken by my alarm at 03.45 and, after a quick shower, got dressed then drove to Fareham to pick up Stu and Torin. I dropped them at Havant station before returning home to pick up all of my luggage. I was dropped back to Havant by Heather (my wonderful partner) where Steve had arrived with his wife and daughter. After some fond farewells, we boarded our train on time and arrived at Gatwick Airport at 06.40. Our check in point was yards away from the top of the stairs, and as soon as we arrived the man responsible for organising the check – in queue was extremely friendly. He tried to have his photo taken with me on several occasions, but succeeded only in getting in people’s way.

We dropped our baggage off and then had a long wait until we boarded our flight. Each of us went for a walk around the shops but eventually we went to our departure gate and were directed to our seats on the plane. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed because two passengers didn’t arrive, but we managed to take off about an hour late at 11.10.

This was my first time travelling with the relaunched Uganda Airlines and the first time in 13 years that I have been able to board a direct flight to Entebbe. The flight experience was very good. The plane was modern and clean and the staf were friendly and professional. I spent a lot of the flight reading my book or talking to Steve who was sitting next to me, but did manage to watch one film (one that I had seen before and was very badly edited for a flight audience). We were given a chicken casserole for lunch washed down with a Kampala – based craft beer called Banange which I hadn’t tasted before. It was very nice!

We made up some time on the flight and landed at Entebbe at 21.08 local time. Getting through customs took a little while but was relatively straightforward. Work on upgrading Entebbe Airport is ongoing, but we were able to walk through th enew entrance hall which was very impressive. We were met by Ronnie who took us to the land cruiser which we will be using for the duration of our visit. Getting out of the airport car park was far from straightforward – think of the busiest traffic you’ve been in and multiply it by ten with no one observing the rules of the road. In the end, Stu got out of the vehicle and directed some traffic out of our way.

After a quick supermarket stop, Ronnie brought us to the Silverback Guesthouse in Entebbe where we are staying the night. Tomorrow we have an early start with breakfast at 07.30 before a meeting at Ugandan Wildlife Authority HQ at 09.00. After that, we will be exchanging money and getting local phone SIMs before we start the long drive to western Uganda.

As we sat around the table at the guesthouse, I remarked that becaus ethe transport infrastructure has been so good, we have travelled over 4000 miles today yet I have only managed just over 3000 steps. That is sure to change tomorrow!