Katie Mossman
Teach Inn Uganda
Well, I return triumphant from Uganda, I have spent the most amazing month with some amazing people and it was really quite a humbling experience for us all. At times it felt like the longest month of my life but also the shortest month ever! I will try to fit as much in as I can but it has been so difficult to convey to people what I have experienced.

Let me start by explaining the purpose of our trip. Channel 4 selected eight of Britain's top business entrepreneurs to take over to Nyakasiru, a village so remote it is not even on the map, to see if enterprise can cure poverty. The entrepreneurs, amongst other projects, built a 'hotel', based on the foundations of an old school and Deirdre Bounds, the founder of a travel company called i-to-i is the reason we became involved. Deirdre has the means of providing volunteers through her company and is closely linked to Leeds Met Uni so this is the reason we were chosen. I am extremely grateful to her.

Upon arriving at the village it became clear that there was nothing there. The elderly people were sat around in the heat, children crawling around with no clothes on, women working in the fields with newborn babies strapped to their back, these people work very hard let me tell you that, they work from dusk until dawn through the blistering heat, the only time they stop is if it rains, I learnt very quickly that Uganda stops when it rains, I was told this is because they believe they are painted and so if they are exposed to rain they will wash their colour off, very naïve but the country seems to be very vulnerable in this respect.

The first thing that struck me over there was how happy the children are, we walked around Kabale (our base town) on our first day, we walked all day and met many adults and children and I can honestly say that the first time I saw a child playing with a toy was 5pm and it was a hoop and a stick which I am sure some readers will remember from back in the day and the most simple toy. Otherwise they played happily amongst themselves, sometimes playing in rubbish tips which really made me feel so sad but they do not see this as sad, it is an adventure for them, although the chances of them finding something worthwhile was slim. When I think of the hundreds of pounds we spend on occupying our children with materialistic toys it makes me shudder. Children do not have a childhood in Uganda, when they fall over no one picks them up, they do not cry, they simply get up and carry on, their siblings are their carers and as soon as they are able they go to work in the fields. Every time I heard a child cry I cried inside, as I knew that they really were crying, no crocodile tears over there, no time for them, no point.

I did not really suffer from culture shock as I had prepared myself for a huge change; that does not mean that it was not overwhelming for me. Everybody carries EVERYTHING on their heads, I saw a lady carrying her handbag on hers and her hands were empty, I tried it but obviously have a Muzungu head, Muzungu being the Ruchiga, local language, word for a white person which coincidentally means the same word as money. In terms of white people, there are so few over there that you gather attention wherever you go, in fact every time I saw a white person I stopped and stared so became no better than the locals! Children in our village had never seen a white person before, indeed a ninety four year old man asked for a photo with us as never in his life did he expect he would stand next to a white girl!

Going to church was a great experience, we attended a United Reformed Church in Kabale, and a local man took us and of course sat us at the front so once again we became the centre of attention! I tell you it was a shock coming back to England and not being stared at all the time. The gospel choir was amazing I had goose pimples from how moving it was, the service was in English and the order of service was very similar to ours and I was surprised to hear some of our hymns in the service. Considering how poor the community is, it was interesting to see how much money they put into the offertory box, Christianity is obviously a major part of their lives and they give what little money they have to this institution. All I hope is that the money goes to the right people for the right causes, there is a terrible amount of corruption in Uganda.

In terms of schooling, we held our school sessions in the afternoon, as it was their school holidays so they would have to work for their parents in the fields in the morning. It was strange to go for walks in the morning around the village and see your children from school working so hard and then shouting to you that they would see you in the afternoon, I'd want a rest in the afternoon! On the first day we told them that school would start at 2pm, they turned up at 10am! Talk about eager. We learnt that they would do anything to get out of working in the fields so if that meant sitting in a classroom for four hours then so be it. We however, would have got into trouble with the parents so we had to send them away until 2pm.

The level of English shocked us at first, it was very basic but then we began to understand that they could speak English, Ugandan English, so what we spoke was another language to them. Towards the end they began to get used to our various accents, Manchester, Midlands, Preston, Yorkshire accents and mine and in turn we grew used to theirs. We were told not to worry about the teaching, just to have fun with them and we certainly did! We taught them various party games; sleeping lions, hokey cokey etc and they taught us some local games including a wrestling game where the children beat us adults, they're stronger than they look! Allowing the girls to play football was the highlight of my time there, it was something that girls simply didn't do but they absolutely loved it, moments like that made it so worthwhile; it really is all about the children.

We were told at the end of school that we had possibly shown more love for these children in three weeks than they had ever experienced in their short little lives. Whilst we did not want to leave the village, we were happy that we had made an impact on their lives and that we had set the bar for guests in years to come at the hotel. The whole community turned out to wish us goodbye and gave us the most beautiful gift of a basket, it was the perfect way to say goodbye, and they thanked us for our work and assured us that they would always remember us in their hearts. Their words were 'the first-born is always loved more than the second or third' and as pioneers of this project I can only take compliments and reassurance from that.

I miss the village every day and hopefully look forward to returning one day; I made many friends whom I hope to keep in touch with. I hope you will look out for the television programme in September called 'The Mission'.

With love,

Katie.