Mr. Shilton's Ugandan adventure: Diary entry for Wednesday 20th April 2011

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Another fabulous but thought-provoking day today! It started when we stopped at a house belonging to a boy who could not walk at all and lived with his 70 year old grandmother. He had to drop out of school because he could no longer make the journey. He is now 17 and crawls around the house (which is a mud hut). He cannot afford a wheel chair or crutches which would enable him to carry on at school. So he stays at home and helps his grandmother dig. We then continued to school. When I arrived one of the children had picked me some mangoes which were far smaller than ours but tasted far juicier! One of the teachers then showed me the crops again and I found the children digging the field to help the beans grow. I watched them demonstrate how to do it and then I had a try – they laughed at how badly I used a hoe! It was really hard work and I only did it for 5 minutes! These children (and adults!) do it for hours a day in the blistering hot sunshine! I then taught the children how to make high-pitched noises with pieces of grass! They loved it!! I have pictures of this which I will show you when I return!) I then asked to learn some basics in Luganda (the local language). The teacher taught me some basics in the language including days of the week, numbers up to 20 and colours. It was surprisingly easy to do! I will teach you some when I get back!

Mary then took me around some houses belonging to the children in the local village. I saw a range of houses which were made from brick or mud. There were animals around the houses including goats, pigs, cows, chickens and dogs! I also saw an ant hill which was a big as our classroom ceiling – I will show you when I get back! I saw one lady who was 70 and very frail. Her hands and feet were covered in mud – because she had been digging in the fields on her hands and knees – I found this unbelievable! Especially when I think how well our older people are treated in the UK in comparison. This brought a tear to my eye. I then visited a man who had 6 children. This was a sad story as he had lost his wife and a daughter in the previous year. He made me very welcome and showed me his drinking vessel and gave me a woven mat that had taken him 3 months to make! I tried to pay him but he would not accept. He was an Arsenal fan and loved Fabregas! I then visited a house with a thatched roof and observed cooking and weaving.

I then returned to school to find the teachers looking at the scrapbook with very excited children! I then talked them through the scrapbook and they all agreed that Priory looked like an unbelievable school.

After lunch I watched the children play football and they were really good and had great skills. Some of their footballs were plastic bags wrapped in straws which work surprisingly well! We then had fun talking to the teachers whilst they were eating.

I then presented the teachers with the magnificent parachute you designed and explained the rules ready for the big reveal tomorrow! I could tell that they were struggling with this as it was totally out of their comprehension. We played catch in Mary’s office using the balls I had bought. I then returned to the scrapbook and explained about all of the wonderful people at Priory and they gasped about how different it was to their school.

After school we returned to the Mary’s village for dinner again. We had pork and Irish potatoes – very popular in Uganda. Ruth, Mary’s daughter, loved the cameras and disappeared off with them and took many superb photos which I will show you when I get back! One of the local boys, Julius was a lovely boy. I never caught him without a smile on his face and he has made me many wonderful poems and many beautiful gifts – including a Ugandan doll and a skipping rope.

Later that evening the friendly hotel owner, Martin, invited me to watch the football; Arsenal V Tottenham. It was one of the best matches I have ever seen!! 3 – 3 with spurs making a great comeback!