Spring Hike

Inspecting spring construction in Mbale brought a new experience for us. Look up at Mt. Elgon and just below the horn is where we were headed for an inspection, not down in a gully but up on the mountain..

You wind your way up the mountainside through trade centers on dirt roads -

There it is, that's the trail up the mountain to the spring. May not look like it from here but it is straight up. High humidity causes the trail to be muddy and slick.

Starts out pretty good with the trail leveling off for a ways but before long the grade gets much more steep.

On the way up we meet a young man fetching water.

He has made a nice wheelbarrow type carrier for his Jeri can out of limbs bound with reeds to hold it together.

Pretty ingenious and it works. Seems better than carrying it on your head.

On top a natural spring was flowing but you could only get the water by dipping your Jeri can into the little puddle stream it formed. Of course the water is contaminated once it sits in the puddle. The protected spring was under construction and not yet finished. It will service all those living on the side of the mountain.

Once on top the view is incredible allowing you to see clear to the next country.

While hiking up we walked through many gardens where people were working.

And families doing their wash. No washing station for this spring as there was no room to put it on the steep mountain side by the spring.

On top we found a man who was collecting herbs and bark for natural medicine.

Ssimbwa bought some bark to steep and make a tea to treat asthma.

Most of the housing here are made of sticks and mud walls with thatched roofs.

Latrines were pretty spartan with just a hole in the ground with a frame woven out of branches and then covered with banana leaves.

When we got back to the truck we purchased two bunches of matoke bananas (we don't cook matoke but that infamous shopper we travel with, who fills up our truck with all kinds of things, he eats matoke every day), a box of tomatoes and a bag of carrots. We had won as all this produce had been picked that morning and the farmers won because they didn't have to take their produce to market to sell.

We didn't by the sorghum that was drying in the dirt. That was being dried to make the local brew.

A beautiful hike, reminiscent of a hike we took several months ago when we were passing through Mbale. Ahhhhh but that is another entry for our Uganda adventure.

Mbale, the Garden of Eden of Uganda

Welcome to Mbale Uganda, about the most beautiful place in Africa.

Mbale is located in the eastern part of Uganda at the foot of Mt. Elgon. High humidity and abundant rainfall make this area an active agricultural center where anything will grow.

The city of Mbale is lined with beautiful old mahogany trees

The mission has sent Elder and Sister Rix from Hurricane, Utah to nurture the brand new branch of the church in Mbale. When we visit this beautiful part of Uganda we stay with the Rix in their plantation home. It is a large, beautiful home with a spacious well groomed yard. The gardener/guard lives in a small cottage on the grounds and keeps the place in pristine condition. They are having a wonderful time nurturing this new little branch. They are great hosts and make us feel very welcome.

Everyone works in the gardens - mom, dad, grandma, kids, everyone.

We have just finished a large water project in Mbale that benefited 113,000 people with clean water and hygiene/sanitation training. Beneficiaries included the Koran Primary school along with 14 other primary schools who received a new latrine, hand washing station and rain water catchment system with a 10,000 liter tank.

Included in the project was 60 protected springs and 30 clothes washing stations. Eddie Mutebi was the general contractor who runs a pretty efficient project, finishing the project in 4 months. Such efficiency is unheard of in Uganda and the Mbale District Leaders were overwhelmed with the results.

Eddie and the man designated to care for the new spring water source.

Surveying the site.

Getting around to visit all the sites of this project isn't easy. Routes are just foot paths as we drive deep into the country side.

A new protected spring

Mostly the children fetch the water twice a day.

Some need a little help to get that water up on their heads.

Some can handle it all by themselves.

Clean water -Such a gift - One that is greatly appreciated.

While visiting a spring in Mbale I ran into one of the new Hygiene/Sanitation trainers. She was fixing dinner, peeling cassava. I sat down to help her and visit a minute. She was so happy to have me spend some time she ran into her hut and put on her Hygiene/Sanitation shirt (note logo) and explained to me that she was in charge of 5 families, her neighbors, to make sure that their part of the community was practicing the new skills they had learned. she also brought out her well worn Bible to show me she was a Christian, a sister in the gospel.

Mbale truly is a paradise. Beautiful scenic views where ever you look.