A Busy Month

It has been awhile since I added to this blog - we've been busy, the internet is up and down and the power is on and off. That is usual for this part of the world.

We visited the Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary on Monday. It is located on an island in Lake Victoria and takes 1 1/2 hours to get there by traditional boat. The chimps are injured or orphans that have been discovered in the wild and are transported to one of the sanctuaries located in the country, treated and then kept safe from poachers and disease. They keep 40 on the island for tourists to observe and to preserve animals on the brink of extinction. We watched them eat, play and socialize. They even have a social structure with a president and his body guards. The villagers on the island were relocated so that the sanctuary could be developed.

Our P-Day two weeks ago was a trip to the Kakira Sugar Factory located about 15 minutes east of Bugembe. The factory has been operated in the area by the Madhvani Group, an Indian company, since 1920. When the Asians were expelled from Uganda during the 'reign' of Idi Amin, the government took over the sugar industry but were unable to operate it successfully. The original owners were invited back in 1985 to resurrect the industry which provides employment for workers in the sugarcane fields and factory. There are villages located all through the area to house the employees as the consortium owns alot of the land in the area.

I continue to marvel at the resourcefulness of the the women as they cook outside. The cake that was made for the Relief Society Social was made outside and cooked over the charcoal 'stove'. It was an orange cake and delicious. I don't know how they know when to put the pot over the coals, but they do - I have problems controlling the heat in my gas oven!