Soft Power!

It's been a day of 'Softpower'. Now, I know that sounds like an IT consultancy, but it's actually a charity set up by a Dragoman Overland guide ten years ago. They have this area completely sewn up, with around thirty schools in total benefiting from their work. We have three whole days in Jinja, and day one, for the most part, we all elected to do the 'Softpower' thing, where they basically take us around a few schools, show us their work, make us do some work, then dig some cash out us.

First up was a small nursery school, full of children up to the age of eight. When we came through the gate, they swarmed out of the building and all over us. I wasn't at all prepared, and suddenly found myself with children hanging off each hand and round my legs. I felt a bit like Indiana Jones at the end of 'Temple of Doom'. They didn't seem to want much apart from company, although they loved seeing themselves on the screen of my digital camera. They took great delight in hanging off my arms, too – they're so light, I could lift them into the air, with one on each outstretched arm.

From there, we walked to the education centre, which was a gaudily-painted building seemingly in the middle of the forest. Here, they teach basic IT, english, health and agriculture skills.

It was a bit of a whistle-stop tour, and we were then loaded on the back of a truck and bused out to a bigger school. Everyone in this area seems very friendly. Whether or not it's the influence of Softpower, no-one seems to be begging, and everyone waved at the truck in a very friendly way. At the school, those with the appropriate skills (teacher, doctor, farmer...) were put to use, and the rest of us.... painted. Yup, we painted one of the buildings. To be honest, we were doing this for a few hours, and it was fairly hard graft. I'm also not sure our time couldn't have been put to better use. However, we achieved something, and it didn't cost them any resources (except paint, I suppose) for us to do it. Charity so often seems to be more about the people doing it than the people benefiting. I do think there are things they could do better and more efficiently, but then I guess I should put up or shut up.

After a few hours with paint brushes, we had lunch. This consisted of rice, plantain and cabbage. Plaintains are basically over-sized bananas, with none of the sweetness. They taste a bit like potato, and I couldn't think of anything worse than to have them as my staple diet. Still, we ate it all, and it wasn't too bad. Suggested donation of twenty US dollars, and my guilt is assuaged for another few months.

So back at base, another swim in the Nile, and some free internet.

There, and I didn't mention the wisdom tooth once. What does that tell you?