Throughout our 4 weeks, CWI worked mainly in districts of Kampala but also making forays further into the country. Most of our shows took place in schools with a few happening in communities. All venues consisted of children and orphans affected by HIV/AIDS, although not all were poverty stricken.
During our stay we ran 33 shows which reached over 10,000 people!
This tour was an entertainment package for the children, but we also used our time there to make more contacts and to find out what else we could do to help. We are now working on ideas to provide a more educational program to help with AIDS awareness and health, alongside the performance and games. We intend to return to Uganda in the near future with this new program.
CWI would like to thank the Hope Children’s Foundation Africa for their partnership in this tour, and we wish them every success in their ongoing work.
Below are some observations of Kampala by Haggis McLeod, one of our performers from the tour.
“…Things are going very well, the people are charming, have a wonderful sense of humour and a very diligent work ethic. There really are more beggars on the streets of London than in downtown Kampala. We have been working in some of the poorest areas and it is incredible that every morning, out of the mud bricked huts, and on to mud roads awash with filthy water, step adults and children dressed in clean and pressed clothes. There seems to be a nation wide desire to better ones-self and if some one can work, then it seems they are expected to.
Uganda is made all the more attractive by being the only country I have ever visited, that does not have a tobacco culture. Hardly anyone smokes, between the four of us here, we have seen less than 10 people with a cigarette in the last 3 weeks. People don’t even know how to use a lighter when I hand them one to light my fire clubs. Uganda also boasts a total absence of McDonalds, KFC or any other western fast food chain. This is fine with us as it also boasts some of the finest, low priced dinning anywhere on the planet. In fact, apart from the appalling state of the roads, lip-smacking, eye-watering pollution in the city center and the fact that it can sometimes takes over an hour to cover 5km in the traffic, it is one of the most delightful countries I have ever seen.
I do feel there is tremendous hope for the Ugandan people. English is almost their first language now and many of the children who do go to school are bright, articulate and have very high aims in life. They all seem to want to be doctors, engineers, pilots or businessmen. Sadly this is tinged with the fact that may of the poorest children are orphans of war or Aids. The school staff we speak to say that while they know a percentage of their pupils have aids, many parents don’t want their children to be tested as they are too scared of the results!!!!”
