Tororu (think that is correct spelling)

Well we have just returned from a 3/4 day trip to Tororu or rather a rural area north of there. The journey took about 5 hours. Wellspring have close connections with two or three communities and we went to offer help in education and health. We were a team of seven with me offering education, David, the physiotherapist Ronald and the midwife offering health provision and two children's workers plus Herbert (who runs wellspring with his wife Eve). The people speak a different language in this part of Uganda and people walk several miles to school or church. To see a vehicle caused people to line the tracks (not quite roads as we understand them) and to have white people caused them to come out their homes to view us even where there was a village center! The communities are very rural with a nursery school in one and tiny classes in the other. The school is in the process of being built and two classes held under trees. There is a blackboard for all but nursery and plan international sponsor the education. We were told that the local government school has 150 children PER CLASS!  On Thursday morning David held clinics with Ronald under the trees and once I had taught the nursery class (thereby showing teachers how one could teach number) I helped with dispensing medicine provided free of charge thanks to donations which you (our friends) have made. There is no running water so people travel to nearby bore holes with large jerry cans and yet each community prepared a lovely lunch on each day and we were given the only chairs available.The clinics were vastly over full with insufficient time to see everyone. In the afternoon we went to another community and we played games with the children. Due to lack of daylight (and no electricity) all finish by 6pm. Friday saw me training teachers (most are untrained) while David and others continued in a 3rd community. They were due back by 1pm and patients started arriving at 12. There were games for the children and then each was given a drink of squash and two biscuits - a real party. By 4pm the queue for the clinic was enormous and I had been teaching phonics for two hours to the infant staff surrounded by fascinated ladies. The clinic ( with the midwife and I dispensing once more) began with only children being seen till nearly 6pm.
Sunday began with the most amazing service of worship -fabulous singing without musical accompaniment and the children doing an amazing music and action presentation. David was the preacher.
The journey home began well until our fan belt went! Oh for the RAC! Pius and Ronald went for help and found a highway policeman who contacted a mechanic who came on his bicycle and sorted us out. Two hours later - flat tyre (wrong jack) but Pius got under the van (in the dark on a busy highway) and managed to get it to work. The traffic on the main roads is hairy to say the least and the only rule appears to be that if you can get past another vehicle on left or right then you do ! After over 6 hours we turned onto side roads (nowhere is tarmac apart from the very major highways) and after an 8 hour journey we got back. Herbert had driven all the way back!