It has been a long time since we last blogged but so much of this
year has been anything like normal that blogging has taken a back seat.
Now that the dust has settled (not that it ever does in East Africa) I just
wanted to take some time to update you all. We managed to get a break
away as a family at the end of February to visit Tanzania for a week and within
a week of returning home, things began to shut down in Uganda as per the president’s
directives. Schools were closed after a mad weekend allowing all the
children in Kampala who come to go to boarding schools to travel back to
villages in their masses and then lockdown began. For two months there were no
cars, taxis, or buses allowed on the roads at all. Only bodas (motorbikes) were
allowed to transport goods and this at least gave the many drivers an income as
they were in high demand from shops to deliver supplies and this now became our
only means to get food supplies, cooker gas tanks refilled, cash at the bank
etc.
The roads were eerily but wonderfully
quiet with only pedestrians allowed to walk to nearby shops. Market sellers
could only operate if they camped out with their produce and did not go
home, often using tarpaulin to shelter from rain. Exercise was
still allowed however, with many people at home out of work or not at
educational establishments, the streets soon became open air gyms and
large "marathons" were being run along the main tarmacked roads
such as the expressway! This was then stopped by the president and exercise was
to happen at home. We could still walk to a few local shops nearby which
was good and allowed us to get out of our walled compound for a time.
Andy has a motorbike that he uses to drive to and fro from work so we were
fortunate that he could spent a few mornings visiting several different shops
for us while I worked at planning and preparing music lessons for the primary
department while trying to keep the three Amigos on track with their online
learning.
Teaching music online only was of the steep learning curve and
working from home and looking after the education and wellbeing of the kids was
at times completely overwhelming as I am sure other working parents will
understand. I would work late into the night to record teaching videos to
upload and complete planning as it was my only uninterrupted time. I was fast
tracking my way to burn-out and was a little worried about my mental ability to
cope. Add to this the disappointment of cancelled flights and knowing that we
will not get to Scotland this summer and quite possibly not until summer 2021 -
it has been a tough time. My coping mechanism is to withdraw from the
world and only focus on what was essential for me to do such as keeping the
kids spirits high, keeping them in routine and keeping up with the
demands of my job, helping those around us where we can - that was all I could
do. We were asked by many in the UK for updates, devotionals and other
tasks ( I think we had 4 requests in one week) and it was heart-breaking but necessary
to say No. I hope I did not offend anyone in the process and if I had to
decline your request at that time then I hope you can understand. Thank
you for being patient with us.
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| Dynamics lesson |
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| Abi and Squizzy |
The children have had their own
ways of dealing with the changes the pandemic has caused, Abigail has really enjoyed
learning at home although has had her fare share of tears and despair along the
way - she really hates it when plans change and knowing that she will not be
going to Scotland for the summer has been particularly tough - a good but tough learning
experience in coping with disappointments. Matthew - well I'm not sure
where to begin. Let's just say the climb to the end of term has been a so
rocky at times that there were moments that I thought I might not make
it. We got there in the end and we are still talking to each other -
phew! Eilidh has done her best with her school work but has surprisingly
struggled to enjoy live sessions and it was all I could do to keep her from
switching her camera and mic off and wandering away for a drink of water -
involving a large bottle, many ice cubes resulting in a devious ten
minute operation! Overall she enjoyed the tasks. Andy has done his best at keeping us all as sane as he could. MAF
planes were grounded and pilots were home.
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| Eilidh fishing on the submerged runway! |
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| Working on the flooded runway |
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| Andy enjoying a visitor on lockdown |
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| Just give Andy a spray paint can and....voila! |
MAF has had various
challenges in particular, the rising levels of Lake Victoria has caused widespread
flooding and the MAF runway strip has been so waterlogged that even if planes
could operate, they would still have been grounded. A lot of work
has been done to raise the runway levels up and I believe the water is
subsiding however we are now going into rainy season. MAF moved a few planes to
the main airport in Entebbe during this time and were able to secure permission
to fly two or three times in the lockdown to bring supplies and medicine to
those who need it urgently mostly due to flooding.
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| Summer music camp - hee hee! |
It's a different summer but at
least cars are allowed out now, albeit with only four people at a time. The
shops are open but there is only so many shops you can drag your kids around in
Kampala before they realise this is more of a stress fest than a fun day out!
The zoo is closed, no hairdressers yet (thought I had a home visit today for
the first time in four months!!) and the borders around Uganda are still
tightly shut except for cargo trucks. The airport - well, there really is no
point getting the suitcases out for their annual “dustathon” in preparation for
travel. repatriation flights for Ugandans stuck abroad are still
operating till end of September so that does not bode well for the airports
opening before then.
We have managed to conduct two birthdays
in lockdown. Matthew turned 12 in April and Eilidh turned 8 two weeks
ago. I am thankful that although we tried to get on a flight back to
Scotland at the start of it all, God did not open the doors for this and
it has been important for us all to be in our familiar surroundings, with our
beloved pets and enjoy the warm climate. Uganda has really done an
amazing job keeping Covid at bay and as I write this, we are sitting at around
1000 positive cases in country since March and no deaths. There are many
more dying of malaria and other diseases here. The lock down, in its own
way, is bringing more trouble than Covid here, as families are struggling to
make enough money to survive. I really feel for the boda drivers who do
not have such a demand for deliveries now as cars are moving, yet they
are still not allowed to take passengers. They are also very unhappy
which is leading to more protests on the streets. Movement around the
city is difficult as taxi's and buses can operate only at half capacity thus
are charging higher fares. Curfew times of 5pm for all bodas and 7pm -
6.30am for other vehicles are still in place and you would not want to
risk being stuck in a traffic jam at 6.30pm!! The police yards are full of
impounded bodas and cars taken from those flouting the law. There
have recently been more thefts including violent house robberies as people are
getting more desperate, so we are all still being extra vigilant. We have
been keeping up with the news on BBC News app from around the world (especially
Scotland of course) and despite the tick infestation around our house and
garden at the moment (shiver!), we are pretty glad to be in Uganda.
We have been privileged to be invited to be part of Kirkintilloch Baptist
Church service via zoom and join the prayer meeting in Pitlochry - wow that was
tough seeing dear friends again and having a good cry afterwards is actually
okay, and part of my new normal.
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| Sending the love from us to you |
We are just going with the flow
and forever trusting in the one and only faithful God who has brought us this
far and will lead us home. Thanks for continuing to journey with us and
keeping us in your prayers. We miss you all.
Yours in Christ,
Heatherx
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