The wheels on the bus...

On Tuesday evening we set off from Mwanza on an overnight ferry to Bokoba, Tanzania. We had been assured that on the other side of Lake Victoria we would find a bus to Kigali, Rwanda. A bus that would wait if the ferry was delayed. This sounded a tad optimistic, but ever hopeful we set off. At about 5 in the morning I woke up to find the ferry docked and people disembarking. I poked a seriously disoriented Abby awake, jumped off the top of the three level bunk beds, scrambled to collect my things and marched off the ferry half asleep. We were just about clear of the dockyard when it occurred to me that not *everyone* was climbing off the boat, and maybe I should check where we were. A few minutes later, Abby and I slunk back into our cabin, much to the amusement of the ladies who had been chattering about the muzungos most of the trip.

When we did arrive in Bokoba a few hours later we found, not surprisingly, there was no direct bus to Kigali. We would first have to spend a day travelling to Kampala, Uganda, and then another day travelling down to Kigali. The daily bus to Kampala had already left, so we would have to wait a day in Bukoba before we could get going. Bokoba was a pretty sleepy town: we discovered the very slow internet connections, a New Rose cafe with good Tanzanian grub, and not much else.


scenes from Kampala

We stopped once on the long bus ride to Kampala at the Tanzania-Uganda border. We grabbed the chance to use the loo, and when we returned we asked the border guard which one was our bus. He pointed at it and said "I think it is even having mechanical problems" as if that were a good thing! Sure enough, the bus was having a tire changed, as the bumpy roads had bounced the previous one off.

Kampala was a chance to regroup, though after Tanzania everything seemed much more expensive! In the morning we set off again down to Kigali. The long Uganda-Rwanda border crossing, made even longer by a stupid muzungu who had her iPod stolen after she left it on the bus unattended, made us long for the tire change of the previous day.


the Rwandan countryside

After a full sunrise-sunset day on the bus we finally arrived in the capital of Rwanda and checked into our hotel. Though far more expensive than Tanzania or Uganda, the chance to soak in the bath was well worth it :)

Kwa heri Mwanza

On Tuesday Abby and I took Cha-Cha, Angela and Zainabi to the private hospital because we suspected that their constant coughing was a sign of TB. The doctor ran several tests on them and told us all three of them had malaria, a chest infection and worms but not TB. We were completely amazed that the children were so sick - they hadn't complained and it was only because we heard them coughing we thought they should go to the doctor. Joseph told us that the orphanage staff had suspected they (and several other children) were ill but couldn't focus on health care until they had enough money to feed the children. At the private hospital registration, consultation with the doctor, four lab tests for each child and all their medications (3-5 per child) came to a total of about US$30. It continues to amaze me that so little money can do so much here, and really makes you wonder why those that can afford it aren't doing more to help.



Yesterday was our last day in Mwanza. Abby and I took the horrendous falling apart dalla-dalla to Buswelu just outside of town and when it failed to start after it's first stop we decided to get out and take another one. The fare collector completely ripped us off, but after several minutes of arguing we gave up and let him keep the extra 'muzungu' fare, we were thankful to be away from the decrepit vehicle. We jumped on another and ended up walking from the main road to Hisani (the orphanage I volunteered with last year). Despite taking at least half an hour to get there, we noticed the dalla-dalla we got out of didn't pass us at all - very satisfying to know we made the right choice :)



When we arrived at Hisani all the kids came running out shouting my name - I was so suprised they all remembered me after so long! I handed out photos to the children which they were very happy to receive: most of the kids don't have any pictures of themselves or their families. Hisani now has links with Volunteer Africa and the difference in the orphanage was really amazing: the children had tiled floors, proper beds, loads of room and even a computer with internet connection! It was great to see them all doing so well.


Mwanza, taken on Lake Victoria

After lunch we headed back to Fonelisco and said good bye to all the children - they made us promise we would be back and this year I'm sure I will be!

50 kids go adventuring

Yesterday we all got up really early to head off to Saa Naane island, a small island in the middle of Lake Victoria that acts as a miny zoo and picnic point. We arrived at the orphanage around 7 am just in time to see the kids having breakfast. Most of them were tucking into a rather slimy looking gruel made from the same stuff as ugali: maize powder and water, but some of the boys had decided to collect a little protein to along with it.


When they realised how disgusted the muzungus were with them eating grasshoppers, they insisted on posing with their food and throwing grasshoppers at us to hear us squeal!



While some of the other volunteers studiously made hundreds of samosas as lunch for the children and staff in the morning, I played with Happy and the other children. A new boy, Charlie, had joined the orphanage the night before and had been really shy and sticking to himself a lot. I gave him my camera: he soon mastered the art of photography and made quite a few friends in the process.

After 5 hours or so of cooking and preparations, the dalla dalla arrived to take us all to Saa Naane. There were far too many kids and staff to fit into one dalla dalla, so we had to make two trips to the ferry point. Only ten people could (officially) fit in the tiny boat, so we had five (very packed) journeys back and forth to the island until we all arrived. After all that effort, it wasn't until about 3pm that the entire group reached Saa Naane.



The staff and volunteers were totally exhausted by all this, but the children absolutely loved seeing a lion up close and having a picnic with such amazing views. All that hard work was definitely paid off seeing their smiling faces at the end of the day :)

The places we go

One of the things you learn really fast in Tanzania is that nothing happens quickly: time is a rather flexible concept. Yesterday Joseph asked us if we wanted to take a 'quick walk' in the afternoon to do some home visits. When he can, Joseph arranges for older children to be adopted into the community with their families or other guardians, that way he can take in more children at the orphanage and keep more kids off the streets. The home visits are to check on the children and make sure they are in a safe and good environment, this particular visit was to check on one of the children that had been placed with his grandparents a few years ago.

We asked a few times how long the walk would be when we diembarked from the dalla-dalla, and Joseph assured us it would only be about 15 minutes. A very scenic and rigorous hour later we arrived at a tiny mudhut and met the family. A very elderly couple welcomed us warmly, and struggled to find places for us all to sit. They borrowed wooden chairs from neighbours and eventually brought their 'bed' - a very used and thin sack stuff with straw - out for us to sit on so we would be comfortable. It was really painful to watch them trying to comfort us as much as possible when they clearly had nothing. You might think from my description of seats that not many people lived in the hut, but the couple were looking after four grandchildren from their own children who had died, and another four grandchildren and wife of their son who had run off.


the family with Joseph (2nd from the left)


The husband had been a business man but had long since retired and now had to make sisal ropes in order to support the family. He showed us the 'machine' he used to shred the plants - a mere scrap of metal - and demonstrated how long it took to carefully twist the strands together. We could see that it would take him at least half an hour of twisting to make a rope that could fetch about 300 TSh (30 cents) at market, and he was supporting 11 people by doing this. The boy we had come to visit wasn't there, as the family had absolutely nothing and the children had gone to town to beg for dinner. Joseph told us that the situation was common and that was why he had to monitor the families children were placed with often to make sure the children weren't starving to death. He told us it was likely the boy would have to return to the orphanage as it was clear the family was unable to support him.

Mwanza revisited

Yesterday Abby and I arrived in Mwanza and were extremely warmly welcomed by Joseph and all the children in Fonelisco. The children at the orphanage (and the staff) put on a wonderful performance singing and dancing for us. At the end Abby and I were forced to get up and join everyone - so it was a good thing we got some rest in Nairobi otherwise we would have been knackered!


the staff performing a local dance

Last year while I was here I took a group of streetkids out to dinner at the local pizzeria that's run by another orphanage in mwanza. Yesterday when I walked into Fonelisco I saw Jimmy straight away, one of the streetkids I had told to go to Joseph's orphanage a year ago. I couldn't believe that he had taken my advice and it was so nice to see that he was healthy, happy and safe :)


abby and jimmy

hakuna matata

Abby and I arrived in Nairobi first thing this morning and it seemed very likely to turn into one of those days where everything goes wrong. We'd heard the stories about 'Nairobbery' so had planned to go straight to Mwanza to catch up on sleep and explore Nairobi on the tail end of the journey. The flight wasn't until 3pm so we would have had 6 hours at the airport waiting to fly but we couldn't fly today because seats to Mwanza were fully booked. We checked into a backpacker dive and have spent the day resting, seeing a bit of the city, and discovered that our phone was broken so managed to get it fixed, something that would be really unlikely anywhere else we are travelling to! The city is much nicer than I imagined and it's the first time I've been anywhere in Africa and totally ignored - after all the stories you hear about the place it has been a wonderful first day and it is fantastic to be back :)


this is Mt Kilimajaro by air on the way to Mwanza