19 Day's and counting...

There are now 19 days and 18 hours (to be exact - time is of the essence!) before 30 self-funded Give-a-Week volunteers and 1 NGO head off to Uganda. Our rough itinerary looks a little something like this:

7 June - Mid-afternoon flight from Belfast to London Heathrow. After a significant wait, and Temazepan in hand, we are scheduled to get the over-night flight to Entebbe. Estimated flight time 8 1/2 hours. This is the equivalent of 2 in-flight meals, 1 hour reading, at least 2 180 minute movies and hopefully a couple of hours kip.

8 June - We arrive first thing and begin the long journey from Entebbe through Kampala (the Capital) to Kibaale on what we have been told are less than great roads; time will tell how true this is. We propose to make a quick detour to a recently completed Fields of Life School and witness, first hand, the impact it has had on the local community.

9 June - 12 June -Set off to meet the local community, were we will be based for the following 5 days, and the pupils of Rushmere School. Our team have been divided into 4 pre-prepared groups. Each group will alternate activities, sports, music/dance and manual work, and classes, nursery- P7, on an hourly and daily basis.

13 June - The "Topping Out" ceremony is scheduled for today and is symbolic of all the work which has been done, not only over the past week but over the past 6 months. The exact timings of this ceremony are unknown (Uganda runs on African time and strict itineraries, although diserable, are pointless) but we do know there will be plenty of singing and dancing!

14 June - We make the trip back to Kampala and do some sight seeing. This will include a tour of the captial and a quick visit around Garden City - which has been described as an 'upscale mall'. Sounds great to me!

15 June - Our journey concludes and we prepare the long trip back to Belfast, no doubt having been a party to some wonderful experiences.

If there is anything anyone would like to know about our trip please leave a comment below or log onto www.rushmereshopping.com/uganda for more info.

Ali