Cascades, caffeine & classrooms

 

February 26 – Day 12

Carly, Scott, Alicia & Jamie have all opted to visit Sipi Falls in Eastern Uganda.  They arranged for Aron, a driver, to pick them up at 7 am and make the gruelling “3-hour” drive to the trail head.  After Aron is late, has to stop to pick up his Katogo lunch - a mix of matooke, vegetables, and g-nut sauce (which he assumes Carly will pay for), and then get petrol for the car, they don’t arrive until about 11:15am.  They encounter some interesting scenes along the way, including a flipped over dump truck.

Arriving at the trail head, they meet Sam, the guide whom Carly contacted after reading through many online reviews.  Sam turns out to be a jovial fellow who impresses the Canadians with his fitness levels as he leads them through many steep uphill climbs during the 4-hour hike.

 

These large fields are cultivated by hand

 Sam explains that the local tribe that he belongs to in the Sipi area, around the slopes of Mount Elgon, are the Sabin peoples.  He explains that the Sabin are known for their athleticism, and that they speak Kuksabin and tells them they can remember it as “Cokes and Beans”.  He fails to mention that these are the native tribe that still practice female circumcision as a rite, a detail learned after returning from the expedition that gives much to think about. 

Beware the bridge

 Early into the hike, Sam spots a very well camouflaged chameleon in a tree and is happy to rename himself “Eagle-Eye”.  After goading it onto a twig Sam places the chameleon on Alicia’s arm, and she is happy to let it crawl around.  The group wonders if it will change colour to blend into her tattoos – it doesn’t.   

 

Finally glimpsing our goal

 

There are actually 3 separate falls with 5 different viewing points, which require more hiking up and down slopes.  The group are impressed by the freezing cold temperatures experienced when they get close to the falls and trek into the cave behind one of the cascades.  Alicia is thrilled to find makeshift stands along the trek selling crystals locally harvested in the hills.

 On the way back down, they stop at the home of Sam’s brother who gives them a lesson on cultivation and preparation of coffee plants. His name is Joel, and he is pleased to tell them they can remember it by “Cup-of-Joe”.  Coffee is one of Uganda’s biggest agricultural exports, but as Cup-of-Joe explains, it is not the farmers who make any money at it, it’s the processors who are conducting their business overseas.

The four of them enjoy some “coffee tea”, a tea made from raw, unprocessed coffee berries, while they participate in the various stages of processing coffee including the final steps of roasting the beans, hand grinding them into “coffee powder”, and of course, drinking the fruits of their labour.  The coffee was strong and delicious, and Carly and Scott were all too pleased to purchase some beans to take home.  Aware that they far overpaid for the coffee, they were nonetheless happy to support the local farmer and his lovely family.  

Apparently, the group had taken too long to do the hike – too many pauses to stop and take in the beautiful scenery – and Sam had spent the hour prior to the coffee tour trying to make up time knowing they had a long journey back to Jinja afterwards.  Despite this, after their coffees he took them to one last, beautiful waterfall to wrap up the day.  He explained that this is the waterfall that you can abseil from, and that “next time we can do the lower loop”.

 Goodbyes and thank you’s are made, and the group hop back into the car to make the “3-hour” journey back to Jinja.  They fear for their lives only a few times as Aron maneuvers passing vehicles throughout the traffic jam on the dark roads, juggling heated phone conversations along the way.  Despite the grueling journey, the drive is full of laughter – perhaps thanks to a combination of adrenaline, overtiredness, and too-strong coffee – regardless, a perfect cap to a stellar day.   

Realizing they won’t make it back before the kitchen closes, they ask Sue to pre-order dinner.  They are immensely grateful to find their food on the table when they arrive from their very long, very rigorous, and very fun day.  With hearts and bellies full, it’s straight to bed for the adventurers – not even the strongest coffee in Sipi could prevent a deep sleep tonight. 

Bonnie and Susan enjoy the pool and pavilion at 30 Wilson.  Thankfully, “Tom” only makes short appearances and is very much more subdued in his actions and commentary.

Jackie has advised us that the primary school that many of our kids have recently attended has notified her that there are balances outstanding on the accounts of the two children currently in school and also on 4 kids who previously graduated.  She wants to clear this up, and feels it would be helpful to have her “boss” accompany her.

Alan takes the 20 minute boda ride with her, passing through neighbourhoods of Jinja which Alan has never seen before.  The Glory Nursery & Primary School is located near the shore of Lake Victoria, and there are some impressive views of the lake as the driver nears our destination.

One of the babies' classrooms

The little ones are initially wary of Alan, but soon run to hug the legs of this Canadian visitor

 The school itself is impressive – spacious grounds, clean, fresh paint, polite staff – the nicest Alan has seen in his several visits to Uganda.  They meet with Isaac from the accounting department, who agrees to go over the accounting entries for the children in question.  While he is busy with that, Alan and Jackie are taken on a school tour by the head teacher.

The matron prepares lunch for the younger students

Classroom blocks for the older kids

 Glory school has approximately 1,000 pupils, half of whom are day students and the remaining are boarding.  Jackie reports the meals tend to be nutritious and the students always appear to be in good health when they return home between semesters.  They are taken to several classrooms, an exam hall, a nurses station and lunchroom, as well as an amazingly clean and tidy dormitory hall.

While walking about, they are spotted by Jovan who runs up to greet then and share some hugs.  Unfortunately Sasha must be in classes.

The exam hall

Jovan is thrilled to greet us

Boarding students are responsible for laundering their own uniforms (hand washing)

A very clean and tidy dormatory hall

At the meeting with Isaac, he shows us that tuition for each semester is 650,000 shillings (approximately $255 CAD).  Our students have been getting a bursary of 300,000 per term, and Jackie has been faithfully paying 300,000 each term, so, according to their books, there has been the shortfall of 50,000 each semester, including for 4 students already graduated.  In fact, last year Gloria had been sent home part way through her final semester for non-payment of fees.

Jackie pointed out that we are a charitable organization providing education and support for these disadvantaged children and that she had previously worked out an understanding with the chief administrative officer that she would only be responsible for paying 300,000 shillings per term for each student.  She insists that the problem has been lack of clear communication between the administration and the accounting department.  Isaac seems very understanding and the head teacher reassures us that no students will be sent home until the communication issue is resolved.  The chief administrator should be available later this week to help settle things.

Following that, the pair meet with one of Jovan’s teachers to provide payment for a textbook.  Jackie advises that the books all have quiz pages at the end of every chapter and the children are expected to write their answers in the books, hence the textbooks cannot be passed down from one child to the next one following them.

Sue introduces Jackie to the guilty pleasures of Kraft Dinner

On the way back they stop at a supermarket for a case of bottled water, and Alan develops a newfound respect for the boda passengers who manage to juggle much larger and more precarious loads.