The people & region of Kanungu in rural Southwestern Uganda

The projects are centred around the Kanungu Township in south-western Uganda.

It is a beautiful rural area around 300 miles (ten hours by bus) from Kampala, the capital. The nearest town on the tourist map is Rukungiri.

It is a mountainous zone, 6,000 feet above sea level, so it avoided the disastrous floods in 2007. The height keeps the temperature low by African standards, an average of 18-28 degrees centigrade.

The remoteness makes life a real challenge for the villagers. They are far from facilities that we take for granted, including electricity and water. The local children have to carry water from the valleys up to their homes and are expected to bring a jerry-can of water and a bundle of firewood before running off to school three or four miles away every morning.

People

The village has around 2,000 people and, like the rest of Uganda, a very young population. Up to 50% of people are illiterate as education is expensive on local earnings and, as families have to pay for medical treatment, school fees must wait.

Education is the only way to break the vicious cycle of ignorance, poverty and disease. AIDS and unemployment are special challenges and school dropouts are most vulnerable - they leave the village and end up in an even worse situation in the towns.

Our visit

Report of a visit by Simon and Paul to help teach at Kirima Primary School and to research what needs to be done to set up a gap year programme in the village.

Paul and I had both travelled alone in the past, we had both been in Kenya (Paul twice). Paul had done a round the world trip, I had travelled in Thailand and India. This gave us the confidence to go Uganda alone. Paul and I had never spoken to any of the people who were so hospitable towards us during our stay before we flew. We had had brief email contact with Hamlet in which he had said that it would be possible for us to go and visit Bwindi impenetrable forest and Queen Elizabeth national park for a few days at a time without impeding on the productivity of our trip.

When we went to Bwindi we travelled down with Hamlet and then stayed when he and Kellen returned to Kirima. We went gorilla trekking the following day and made our own way back. When we went to queen Elizabeth we drove there in the morning three hours after we intended to. We did a game drive in the Ishasha sector (southern part of the park) before heading north to Mweya. It was raining heavily and the road became terrible and 3 times we spun. There were elephants on the road drinking from the potholes. We had to wait 20 mins for them to move. Nicholas was convinced that if we just advanced they would run away. He said "they are fear the vehicle". We were not sure this is true and we made him reverse a long way. It got dark early as it does near the equator. We then arrived at 9:30ish at the Mweya gate, which we were told closes at 6 or 7 ( night drives are illegal in Ugandan NPs.) We managed to convince the watchmen that we were booked in at Mweya lodge and in the end we got through. We didn't reach the Mweya lodge until about 10:30 and on the way saw a lion and a hippo by the road side. We managed to book to stay at the hostel which was fine but just a mattress on the floor in the hall alongside strangers tourists and drivers alike.

The next day we safaried in Mweya by following a safari vehicle with a driver because we didn't want to pay for a guide. Our driver was not a trained guide so Paul and I were making the decisions. After driving around Mweya we went on a boat trip on lake Edward. Which was worth it, we saw loads of hippos and felt utterly safe. We were on a gondola type thing. Later that day we travelled back to Ishasha sector and the road was far better. We saw a leopard and then went for a meal, at the Ishasha riverside camp. After the meal we left planning to do a secret night drive to a campsite but after about 100 metres the front left hand wheel came off our Toyota land cruiser. Fortunately the people from the camp allowed us to stay in the drivers tents free of charge as the camp was 200 dollars per night.

When our car broke down, we went back to Kkihihi in a "special taxi" ie not on a motorbike. At one in the morning we had to find a guest house and we got lucky. We got the car back in action the following day and went for 1 last days safari. It was well worth it on the way back encountered a pride of lions on the road and got some spectacular photos.

Advice to travellers: leave in good time; early morning safaris are always best anyway. This way you would be able to get back before nightfall. I would also advise that you got guides. As they can tell you a lot about the parks wildlife and really know the way. There is a good tarmac road that runs round the edge of the park that can be taken to get you from ishasha to Mweya. If the weather takes a turn for the worse I would recommend taking this road as it would be a nightmare to get stuck between Mweya and ishasha and we saw several vehicles that were stuck. Notably when we returned from Mweya to ishasha we saw the same lorry still stranded 24 hours later and they informed us they had been stuck for 3 days. There is no AA you really do have to be able to rely on your car. It would also be necessary to book where you wanted to stay in advance. Mweya lodge is expensive. I would recommend staying at the Mweya hostel but booking so you get rooms. You can always go for a good meal in Mweya before you anyway. There really is very little point spending loads on your accommodation in Mweya as your going to want to get up early.

Visit February 2010

Volunteer Uganda Trustees visit the projects regularly to keep in touch with needs in the area and to ensure that donations have been spent in the best possible way.

Following the latest visit in February 2010, the various project pages have been update with the latest news.

General news from the region:

• Inflation has stabilised and is expected to be down in single figures shortly
• Food is more plentiful and available than on my last visit
• The exchange rate is back over 3,000 Ugandan shillings to the pound
• It seem likely that the Ugandan Government will approve plans which will open up the way for the identified oil reserves to be extracted
• The government has approved the building of a tarmac road that will run through both Nyamirama and Kanungu

Attractions

Kanungu is on the road to the Bwindi impenetrable forest, the home of the famous mountain gorillas. This is the forest that features in the film "Gorillas in the Mist".

Trips that visitors have enjoyed:

• Gorilla tracking in Bwindi (£250 expensive but once in a life time experience)
• Rafting on the “White Nile” in Jinja (includes accommodation and food which is all part of the experience)
• Visiting pygmy settlements not far from Kanungu
• Safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park (incorporate chimp tracking in Kibale in the northern part of the park; this must be booked)

It is a wonderful place if you are an adventurous tourist - sometimes called the "Switzerland of Africa".

Kanungu facts

The statistics below give some indication of the poverty and need in the area:

Population	205,248
Population 0-5	43,747
Population 0-14	103,197
Population 65+	6,640
Sex ratio (males per 100 females)	93.4
Dependency ratio	114/100
Crude birth rate	55/1,000
Crude death rate	172/1,000
Infant motility rate	122/1,000
Under five mortality	206/1,000
Maternal mortality	700/100,000
Life expectancy	48.9 yrs
Child malnutrition	60.2%
Population growth rate	2.31%

Source: Kanungu District Information Portal

Uganda facts

Kanungu is a remote rural region of Uganda; here are some statistics for the country:

Geography:	Uganda is a land-locked country lying on the equator in central Africa. It shares borders with Sudan, DRCongo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. 20% of the country is covered by inland lakes. The rest ranges through tropical rain forest to savannah with mountains on the western border.
Climate:	The climate is tropical
Area:	197,058,000 sq km
Population:	30 million
Capital City:	Kampala (population 1.3 million)
People:	Over 20 tribes. Baganda (17%), Banyankole (8%), Basoga (8%), Iteso (8%), Acholi and Langi. Small Asian and European communities.
Languages:	English is the official language. Swahili and Luganda widely spoken.
Religions:	Christianity, with a sizeable Muslim minority.
Currency:	Uganda shilling (USH)
Head of State:	President Yoweri Museveni (elected February 2006)
Prime Minister:	Professor Apolo Nsibambi
Life expectancy:	52
Infant mortality:	66 deaths per 1,000 live births
Illiteracy rate:	30%
Population under 15:	more than half
Poverty:	35% below poverty line

Source: Foreign & Commonwealth Office