“After a 9 hour flight, finally I arrived to Uganda! The first couple of days were just to get all the team together. I was the first arriving but soon other international volunteers soon start to arrive. They came from Spain, Italy, Check Republic, France and Belgium.
“Once the international volunteers team was complete we drove to a small village called Kiboga, it was in a very rural and isolated area. The 4 hours journeys were very entertaining because the group started to bond and everybody could feel a very good vibe. It was just like on the movie ‘The Last King of Scotland’. The landscapes were amazing and very green, the roads were red the sky was blue, the cows that have massive horns and everybody walks around with a big smile in the face.
“We stayed in the house of the local priest. It was not easy to get used to sleep on the floor with a thin mat a sleeping bag and a mosquito net. We had no electricity and no tap water. So we had to shower with a bucket and a cup. But I didn’t come to Africa seeking any luxury. I could book myself a nice resort with a spa and that kind of stuff if I wanted, but I came to experience the African culture to get to know interesting people and to help out and do something positive during my holidays. So I started to think to myself I was in right place at the right time.
“We were feeling a bit like celebrities. Everywhere we would go all the kids would wave and say, ‘Bye bye Musungo!’ (Bye bye white man!) And they were very happy when we waved back!
“The work was very physical, landing bricks, doing cement and build the roof was not easy at all. The heat would make us sweat like we were working inside a sauna but our strong will wouldn’t stop us.
“Jaja is an old lady that already homed more than 40 orphans (she started many years ago). At the moment she is looking after seven orphans, but soon as the project is finished she is going to look after 15. She is the most inspirational person I have ever met. Always loaded with energy, she is always smiling and she doesn’t stop working in the garden, picking fruits, cooking and cleaning. It’s so nice the fact she always has a kind word for you. She looks after those kids like no other mother does. Normally we would see the orphans after school; they would come smiling and playing around. It was fantastic and contagious to see the joy and happiness of those children.
“At the end of the day we always did a camp fire and I used to think: If you have a good group of friend’s together, some tasty diner, a nice fire that was like food for our soul and the stars to make you feel special. What else do you want? What else do you need to be happy?”
David Hacke