LEVI ON LEAVE

Finally a badger (the silent and repressed majority in the Westerman household) has been given the keyboard for a Uganda blog.  I’m normally resident on the desk of the British Defence Attaché in Juba but this week I’ve been enjoying some R&R in Kampala.  The change of scene has been most refreshing but I haven’t just had my paws up all week – I’ve been taking advantage of the freedom of movement that is denied me in Juba and enjoying spending time with some of Ian’s friends too.  I managed to get a few photos along the way although sadly Ronnie wasn’t switched on enough to think of taking pictures everywhere I went – simply not blog savvy.  

After another busy week in Juba we left Amule in the office and packed our bags to catch the evening Rwandair flight to Entebbe – it was absolutely packed as there are many Ugandans and other internationals and even some South Sudanese who weekly commute on this 50 minute flight.  The views over the city and the Nile make Juba look more orderly than it is at ground level!

Ian’s focus has been on the school inspection and he had to work particularly hard at the beginning of the week.  All seemed to go well and in the end he was a little disappointed to only get visited for 10 minutes or so by the visiting team.  But you hear about his exploits every fortnight, instead here’s what I've been up to (note change of sweater when I arrived in Kampala – the sand coloured one is uniform):

Ronnie has enjoyed the quality of the Bible teaching and the fervour of the corporate worship at All Saints Kampala – they took me along this week but I didn't hear much as I was stuffed in Ian’s bag for most of the time.   It seems to be a place that inspires and equips people to live authentic Christian lives despite hard circumstances.  There is a striking acknowledgement of God’s consistent goodness and provision that we seem to have forgotten in our self-sufficient western setting.

In Juba Ronnie and I aren't allowed to go on foot for more than 600m from our compounds.  So this week we went for a couple of little jogs which was great (although neither of us did very well as we haven’t been for a run for so long).  It’s about 8-10 degrees Celsius cooler here in Kampala but we still got pretty warm!  Just a short distance from Ian’s apartment, the views over Murchison Bay are lovely.  Ronnie also enjoyed joining Ian for the GEMS staff badminton club one evening but I didn't join in as they didn't have a racquet my size.

We dropped Ian off at school each day (at 0710) and then ran a few errands – topping up the internet, changing money, shopping for exciting ingredients that you can’t get in Juba, taking Ian to the South Sudanese Embassy to apply for a visa (more on that next blog (all being well)),  and doing some cooking.  It was good to be able to keep in touch with what’s going on in South Sudan with a bit of gentle work and I helped Ronnie with a couple of reports that were due this week.  We also enjoyed catching up on some reading, doing some mental reasoning (thanks E&S) and watching England get thrashed at cricket (okay so that last bit was less enjoyable but at least we won’t have our hopes up for the World Cup).

Ian’s colleagues were very welcoming and sociable (in my experience primary school teachers are usually pretty badger friendly) and it was fun to join them for on Ian’s birthday after work and for a quiz night.  We also enjoyed having a mini supper party with some other friends (goat stew followed by lemon tart).

I would have gladly joined the GEMS staff for their delayed staff Christmas do which was seeing a performance of Hamlet by the Globe Theatre Company.  Sadly they didn't include me on that but Ronnie was allowed to go.  I understand that it was a somewhat chaotic but very enjoyable performance outside Uganda’s National Theatre.  The Company is trying to perform their (thankfully pared down) production of Hamlet in every nation of the world over 2 years (see http://globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com/hamlet/about-the-project ).  I probably won’t get to see it as the tour dates for South Sudan have yet to be announced…  Apparently the project ‘was created with the aim of performing Hamlet to as many people as possible, in as diverse a range of places as possible. The central principle of the tour is that Shakespeare can entertain and speak to anyone, no matter where they are on earth; and that no country or people are not better off for the lively presence of Hamlet.’  The large audience in Kampala was about 95% expat so I'm not sure that the aim was achieved in this case but it was a good night out!

Food has dominated I&R’s week (as it often does) and they enjoyed a birthday curry, a birthday Italian and a birthday brunch out.  Ronnie and I also had to keep our energy levels up with breakfast out one morning.  

On our journeys about town it was good to see that Chad has entered into the entrepreneurial spirit of East Africa.  We knew that the reports of him settling down to bucolic life in Staffordshire were far fetched.

So I’m ready to change my sweater and engage with the challenges of Juba once again – lots of prayers required for that country please where lack of political compromise continues to make the lives of many thousands of people dangerous and miserable.  Low oil prices also mean that the economy is in very serious trouble which is only making life worse for ordinary people.  High level peace talks start again on 19^th February but it’s at the community level too that peace talks are required and a great deal more mutual trust and understanding.  At least it doesn’t rain so much in Juba (I thought that this was one of Uganda’s dry seasons).