Uganda

A year ago on Wednesday, I spent the day travelling to Africa after a whole year of preparing and waiting and after 5 years of wishing on every star that I could become a part of the team of pupils that get to travel and work in Uganda.
I was a part of a team of 24 pupils (only 23 flew to Uganda, the 24th has a heart condition meaning she can't travel), affectionately called the Tiggers, who prepared from October 2012 to July 2013 to become the best brickies and the strongest team we could be so that when July the 2nd came, the day we finally got to go to Uganda, we would be ready for any eventuality and we would be ready to build on a second floor above the dormitory built by the team before us and we would be ready to create a school. A place of learning for over 100 children of all ages.

It was so hard to say goodbye to my parents as I was going away for a month and would probably have very little chance to communicate with them (no phones and no Internet) but I managed it and I also managed not to cry until about midnight, sat on the airplane writing my diary. Luckily, I don't think anyone saw me because everyone was trying to sleep.
When we arrived in Uganda, it was raining! And thundering. But it was very refreshing after the plane journey. We got quite a few odd looks walking through the airport in our bright orange team kit (orange and black were our team colours, hence Tiggers). We met our lovely, bubbly and hilarious tour guide Lukia along with our 2 drivers Meddie and Hassan and one of our bodyguards, Hassan outside the arrivals building and we headed to the bus. We had another bus ram-packed with our suitcases (we had 3 each and there was 30 of us - you do the maths).
We got to meet our 2 other bodyguards Robert and Walter too and the 6 of them became part of our family so quickly. We also got to meet all of the kids at the 2 orphanages we would be working at. The school I go to owns one of the orphanages (The John Dickens' House/M-Lisada) and it is in partnership with the other (MYDEL).

We built the school at the MYDEL (Mengo Youth Development Link) site and we had 17 site days in which to complete the building and then paint it. We also painted the girls dorms at M-Lisada (Music, Life Skills and Destitution Alleviation) and the outside of the main building there on the last few site days.
After day 8 on site, we had finished the 4 classrooms on the second floor and we were all chuffed to bits. We managed to go from this..

We had scaffolding put up around the edge so we didn't fall off, don't worry!

 To this..

The wall with the dint in the middle is the one I was working on

 To finished, rendered walls with windows in like this!

This is actually one of the walls I helped to build.

So that was pretty mad. In between all the building, rendering and painting we did have some fun too (saying that, site was great fun at times - the team all got on so well!) We attended a Church service - weirdest Church service I've ever been too - and had some African drumming and dancing lessons. We went to Uganda's second city, Jinja and went to Main Street Primary School and taught some lessons, visited the Source of the River Nile, went white water rafting, did a bungee jump (amazing fun!) and visited a baby orphanage. Towards the end of the trip, we also went on a 3-day safari at Murchison Falls National Park which was an incredible experience despite the fact I was ill and couldn't keep much food down.

Going backwards over a 3m drop waterfall!

3..2..1..BUNGEE!!

As well as building the 4 classrooms at MYDEL, we also renovated the main building, transforming it into a Head Teacher's office, a medical room, a library (with computers) and a 5th classroom.
After 4 long weeks, we opened the newly re-named MYDEL-McQuilton Academy, presented the children who lived there with their brand new uniforms and watched with pride as the kids swarmed their new school.

The Medical Room

Uganda was an incredible experience and I met some absolutely amazing people who I would've happily sat and chatted to for hours on end to listen to their stories about the lives they lead. The team I went out with there were the best people I could've hoped for to share those experiences with and we are all still really close, over a year later. I am still so proud of what I achieved in that month and wish I could go back again this year to see all of the friends I made whilst I was out there.

So my message, as well as sharing some of my experiences in the beautiful country of Uganda, is that you need to dream big, be kind, be inspired and keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground for any opportunities that might present themselves to you.
Do something you don't think you have the inner strength for and surprise yourself when you realise that you can do it.
Do everything with a smile on your face even if you feel like you can't keep going for much longer, look for the positives in every situation you find yourself in and surround yourself with a group of people who you know you can rely on no matter what.
And remember to feel proud of whatever you have done, no matter how small and know that you have the power to change somebody's life for the better.

When we arrived back home on the 2nd August 2013

Let me know what you think of this post and I'll see you again soon!
Charly xx