Sunday 9^th October

Yesterday I took my first complete day off which is rather overdue I spent the morning going into Kasese around 45 minutes’ drive away. It was interesting to wander around for an hour to reorientate myself to the town after a year’s absence. Peter (who is the project administrator) and Heather his wife kindly took me. No major purchases but we did go to Jambos which is small café in the town which is a popular watering hole for expatriates (of which there aren’t that many, mostly from Kagando).

The end of last week involved becoming involved with treating a Mzungu (white person) who had fallen ill with Malaria. I think there is little doubt that Mzungus if they develop malaria can become quite sick rather rapidly so it was a strong incentive to keep remembering to take my anti malarials! He responded well to treatment and in the end only needed a 24 hour stay in hospital but a slightly anxious first few hours looking after him. Malaria is certainly not a condition to trifle with and can develop in a complicated way very rapidly.

This afternoon involved a return trip to the prison together with Captain Ezra who was able to translate for me as I spoke about the resurrection. I asked tentatively at the end if any of the prisoners wanted to talk to the group about their faith. One man volunteered and told them how his attitude to his Christian faith had changed while he had been in prison. He was extremely courageous to speak out as he did.

The remainder of the day has been spent with Johnny at his house He is recovering from his malaria. His father Martin arrived on Friday which has been a big help I had the opportunity to see the coffee project which in the space of 12 months has grown into a huge enterprise buying coffee from local farmers for drying and then selling on to the open market. It already is benefiting over 100 local farmers ensuring them a fair price for their coffee as well as providing employment to an number of local people who work in the storage area. That visit was followed up by a delicious evening meal including Yorkshire pudding (!) and at Johnny’s request a game of Settlers of Catan! It has been a very enjoyable and relaxing day.

Coffee drying on trays

Coffee in storage rooms

Coffee being turned to help drying to prevent mould forming