Uganda VI - Farewell

Dear all,

The last blog I wrote was three months ago... and so often I have thought about sitting down and writing our final Africa blog. But when life gets busy, when you feel so out of place but you have to fit in, the last thing you want to do is go back in time to when life felt so much lighter.

Well, three months have passed, we are settling into our new life in St Thomas, and it is time to share our last days in Africa with you.

As said before, I love to go back in time to the place where we felt so welcomed and at home...

In our last week in Uganda, we spent a weekend with our dear friends Famke, William, and Jonathan. Our first stop was here, in this beautiful area just outside Mukono. Famke and her foundation Signs of Hope bought this piece of land. It is the first step into building their school for Deaf children.

It was so exciting to be here!

We then continued our journey to Jinja, where we met with a friend of Famke, who runs a successful school here. We were warmly welcomed and we got a tour. All these school visits have given us a better understanding of education in Uganda, and the daily challenges the schools face.

We ended our day at this beautiful spot near Jinja, overlooking the River Nile. Jinja is best known for its closeness to the source of the Nile, Africa's longest river and the symbol of life for all the countries it travels through before reaching Egypt.

There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family. ❤

Before we went back home, we visited the city of Jinja. We loved the local market but also enjoyed browsing the market stalls tailored to the tourists.

It was a great weekend with great friends!

Before our time in Uganda was over, we were excited to host Mr Yaledi and his beautiful family at our place. A true friendship has developed over the last few weeks and we hope we can stay in contact for the years to come.

We had to say goodbye to this amazing group of children, who were so happy to have us as their neighbours for a month.

Both Raija and Myron played with a lot of kids while here, but did have some who became their special friends.

On March 29, 2023, we left our unbelievable life in Africa behind us. It was time to go back to The Netherlands. All good things come to an end...

We took a train from the airport to the other side of the country. In the small city of Terborg, John and Myron walked to the place where we had stored our campervan while Raija and I waited at the railway station with all our luggage.

It was good to be back in our little home, but nothing could prepare us for the culture shock we experienced in the days after...