Leaving day

Camara 2010 is over now.
We are all sitting at a breakfast table waiting for the van to get here taking all to Entebee.

Real world starts soon.... Adios Uganda and thanks for the whole month.

                                          adéu @ gateley on the nile, jinja. 

By lake Victoria

I did write the last blog along the banks of lake Victoria. I can smell it from here. Alex and Sinead should have been here, but strangely both got tired at the same time.

Time here flew quite fast...

3 weeks flew... Only 1 week left.
2 weeks in forportal was amazing. Camara hub is shaping up to be very nice. Danny has done quite a job to make the labs as they should. I hope he gets to finish the job. I'm sure anyone using them in future will feel it that way.
I mustn't forget to mention the cool Camara team there. Wow...
Pamela, DJ ( not his real name but everyone calls him), Nic, Steve. Top marks to KarolAnne to have found them.
Forportal is good though... I'll be definitely sad to leave.

Again, Internet connection was the reason why updates weren't regular. Not the Nile ( nicest lager for a long time) ... Which I'm getting quite fond of.

A picture says a thousand words.

This is the first blog ever since we landed here on 4^th July. We have completed first two weeks and two more to go. I'll try to remember trip so far......in reverse chronological order. It would be difficult to write it all. So I will go cheap and put photos in here..y'll know that a picture is worth a thousand words..

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  Internet connection week one @ Kassese ? very poor (gave up after 0.5 hr of trying top open inbox)
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  Much faster connection week two @ Fort Portal ? didn't materialise. (undersea cable to Kampala broke down).

Looking back it was good in a way. We were kindda out of touch from the non-Ugandan media (local TV news and a widely read daily rag called Red Pepper which some of us have begun to like). After the world cup final incident in Kampala, reading western media perhaps would have panicked us.

This is our last week in Fort Portal. Monday morning... team divided between St. Pauls school and Camara hub.

The new Camara Hub @ Fort Portal.

St. Charles Chruch @ Fort Portal before Sunday mass.

Shane with our favourite “Try Jesus” van.

Last night @ home

Less than 10 hrs to go.. I'm yet to start physically packing to the trip.. Although in my mind its all done n dusted.:)
Hello all,  here is the big question.
How to pack a month's life in a bag?Any idea?
It really comes down to choices...(just like life). Whats needed and what appears to be luxury. Some are life saving... and I don't mean strips of Imodium. I quickly compiled a high level list..

• Zyrtec vs a tube of toothpaste
• Camara Laptop vs Passport/Tickets
• Teaching material vs notebook/charger
• clean clothes vs a camera
• deciding which 2 books I really want to read...
• last not the least Pearl Jam discography.. (it always works.)

I just decided I will just close my eyes and shove some in the bag. After all if this trip is to have new experience then I can't possibly expect home comforts. After all there is a reason why luggage is also a baggage..

Ghana - Uruguay match is distracting me a lot.... I hope its Ghana's night.

I hope all my colleagues are more organised than me. Please be...


good night Dublin.. be good and enjoy the summer..it looks promising. See you in August!
--R@na

Howdy!

Myself and Alex are currently in the hub in Fort Portal. Alex is doing some complicated networking stuff that I don't understand in the slightest, so I thought I would play my part as a team member and contribute something to the blog ;-)

It's been fantastic out here so far. It feels like we've been here, there and everywhere. Yesterday, we travelled to Kasese (teaching location for week 1), and it's the first time I have felt proper, serious heat. I'm glad we'll be indoors for the peak of the heat everyday!

We arranged a mini van hire for Sunday to meet the gang at the airport with, complete with pimped out windscreen.

I'm not sure what my expectations were coming out here, but it's certainly been different to whatever they were. I was really worried about food. But so far, I haven't wasted away haha. I do love a country that believes in the power of chips. They also eat "Irish potatoes" which I think is cool!

The hub is also pretty cool, I wasn't expecting it to be as it is. It's not 100% finished, but it's coming along really well!

Can't wait to see everyone on Sunday!

Grace

Race Against the Machine

Ever wondered, last week before going on a leave is almost always fervent.  Mine is. It like a 100m dash not a marathon. Which brings me to this topic. Racing to finish installing the environment on the laptop I'd carry with me. Got my third Camara Laptop today. Its function so far.  Its so very slow.. ):

Sunday morning, Addis Ababa Airport

After an 8 hour flight, Grace and I made to to Ethiopia, along with Cormac (Camara CEO), Elaine and Frank (Rwanda team coordinators) and Susan (Zambia team coordinator). We spent our stopover in Heathrow shopping, eating and chatting - the time went quickly and there were no major issues.

Addis International is actually a nice airport, very bright and airy. Frank snagged us some free WiFi courtesy of the business class lounge!

Next stop Entebbe Airport, where we'll meet Karolanne and take the 40 minute bus ride to Kampala. We'll spend the night in the New City Annex hotel, which is in the city centre beside the Ugandan Parliament. Then it's up early to register the team with the Irish embassy, and get the bus west to Mubende, Fort Portal and Kasese - the journey begins!

First group photo!

Taken at the end of the Dtalk weekend, Kimmage Manor, Sunday 20th June 2010. We all look pretty hot!

Next time we all meet it'll be in Entebbe, on the other side of the equator!