After spending one hour at the Internet Cafe I grabbed a coaster in order to go back to the family. A coaster is a bit cheaper than a matatu and reminds me alot of the buses in Denmark. Furthermore it is a bit more safe than a matatu due to the slow speed. When I finally reached Mukono it was getting dark, so I quickly found my boda-guy Edward and drove the remaining way to the village of Takajunge.  There, I walked the last few meters to my house before I jumped to bed.

Now it’s Monday and this is thus the first sign of my survival after a completely surreal river-rafting along the Nile and Lake Victoria. With the military command orders from a young whiskey-Happy Scot, we were thrown into one brutal waterfall after another, followed by a massive flow which threw us into the various cliffs. Fortunately, this took place without any major injuries with only my paddle-buddy, Chris had  some of  his skin torn off because of the sharp cliffs. For that reason our boat was thus filled with blood, sweat and huge amounts of the Nile but after a quick bandage, he was fit again. We were thus not the only team with a dramatic action. One of the other rafting teams even got a little souvenir  in the shape of a Nile cobra, which had swum up in their boat after a giant flip.

We were absolute speechless when we looked back and saw the huge rapids which you had just been restrained by. Our guide did not inform us that we had actually been down from the world’s deepest rapid (4.3 m) until after the rapid, I guess, in order not to scare Camilla and 2 other Mexican girls.

We finally arrived to our destination point around 5 o’clock after 7 hours of exhausting paddling down the beautiful yet dangerous waterfalls.  It was by far the most insane experience ever, but I am not sure it will be my last.

When I went up the boat my body and muscles were completely sore primarily due to the 7-hours of paddle, but also the massive  sunlight had been dreadful. This had thus resulted in a truly couple of shrimp thighs. Therefore, it was nice to have my after-sun lotion which virtually made miracles. After a nice though tiny BBQ it was time to party with the other rafting teams. We had a nice time in the bar chattering with the Mexican girls and guys, before we went to a nightclub in town. Unfortunately, it had been turned into a casino, a place where a poor volunteer-student feels a bit misplaced. At last the fatigue overcame us and we went away with the Mexicans in order to get some sleep.

Then we went back to the family to have an deluxe lunch, with 6 tasty Ugandan dishes. It was very different from my own family, where the rice are cooked in large amounts of oil. After lunch Camilla took my to her boss Andrew and her co-workers in the fairtrade-area of RISE. Andrew is a really great guy and is actually married to a Danish girl, who are expecting next month.  Unfortunately, this means that Andrew will have to leave RISE and Uganda in order to raise the child in Denmark. After the guided-tour around Mayuge fair-trade production, it was finally time for the football-match to begin.

I was given a role as a defensive midfielder, a position which I haven’t played since primary school, so I had some difficulties with only staying on my own court.   Despite my position on the pitch, I  managed to play well and received a lot of positive words from the coach and the crowd as well.  I really felt the great pleasure of playing football again, which reminded me of the great times in Blovstroed IF. I am definitely sure that I will start playing again when I get back.

Unfortunately our attackers were incredibly shoddy and  therefore the match ended in a draw, which was a bit unfair compared to the shots on goal.  After the match we had dinner while speeches in Lusoga were going on. Then we went to Andrew’s place where we had a small party, until we went to bed around three o’clock. Andrew has offered us a drive to the rafting-campsite tomorrow,  so we have to leave  by 6 o’clock in the morning. This is not nice when you will probably have hang-overs.

I have to catch an early Matatu tomorrow,  in the direction of Mayuge, where Camilla has invited me to join a football tournament. Apparently, her organzation called RISE, establish projects for the youth in Mayuge. I am really looking forward to get a guided tour around RISE, where they also have the Fair-trade area, in which Camilla is organizing.

This day was my first ride to the orphanage together with Marie-Louise. We drove with the Boda, which we have named Old Betty for her slow and safe tempo. Therefore we received some laughs, when we rode out of Takajunge to the main-road. The speed-difference where clear from the first sight, cause when the other Boda-guys drive 7- km/h, Betty has a hard time driving 50. Still she is trustful and you can always count on Betty. After reaching the orphanage we played; “Cat and the mouse” &  “All my chickens”, until we took Betty for a ride home.

I went home late after having  a beer at my local bar, just on top of the Internet cafe.  Here they serve a Nile for 2.000 Shs – 6 D.Kr. which makes it one of the cheapest places in Mukono. Furthermore, the bar is located with a beautiful view over the city and if you get tired of the view, European football are running constantly on one of the 4 screens.

Then I had to leave for a meeting with Ivan at my future workplace; Mukono Health Centre, located in the middle of Mukono town. We met with Dr. Drake who guided us around into his office where we discussed the expectations with the work. I left with complexed emotions for the reason that he did not specifie my work at the health-centre, which made Ivan a bit concerned. Dr. Drake – who remiends me strongly of Dr. Drake Remoray  (from Friends), told me that I could just drop by next Tuesday at 8 o’clock and that we then could fiqure out the details.

Then Ivan invited me for breakfast together with one of the Danish nurses, which had taken a week off. Apparently, 2 of the Danish nurses are very sick abd still haven’t left the guesthouse in Kampala. I then went back home in order to discuss yesterdays punishment with my mom and father. They agreed on never hitting any child again and especially the father seemed to be aware of the negative consequences with this sort of punishment. I am not an ignorant and are aware that this promise may not last, but still I am confident that my effort have created valuable changes in this area.

Fortunately, I did not see the punishment occur for the reason that I was in my room. Then Bruno bursted into tears and I rapidly ran over to him in order to comfort him. Furthermore, I tried to relax a tempered Bryan, who kept threating his nephew with a slapping (at this time I didn’t knew that Bryan had slapped him). I then questioned Bryan if he had slapped Bruno and, suprisingly, he refused to commit it. This was one huge lie, for the reason that Bruno had received a great red mark on his left-chin. Therefore I confronted Bryan with his lying and told him that he should never do that again. This made Bryan even more furious so he jumped out his chair and began beating Bruno again, now with his face  covered by noseblood. I quickly pushed Bryan away and grabbed his arms  so he wouldn’t hurt Bruno more. While all this was occuring the other family members where only watching from behind, but then my mother began to involve in the fight. Unfortunately, in a opposite way for the that she now began slapping Bruno cause he wouldn’t stop crying. What a way to raise your child!

I was standing there in this violent-orgie feeling feeble and for the first time in Africa, I really longed to be back in safe Denmark. I yelled and shouted at , but where only met with laughing faces from my fellow family members. I then ran into my room and locked me in for the rest of the night, refusing to speak with anyone. I was filled up with dissapointed emotions towards Bryan and mother, and I guess that I will have a hard time looking them into the eyes.

In the afternoon the others went to do some more shopping. I decided that I did not have the energy for that, so I stayed chattering with the 5 Danish nurses.    When the others went back, Marie-Louise and Camilla went away, but I agreed to stay one more night with Mie and Maria. After a quick nap we went to the couch again and watched the final episodes of Scrubs. Never have I seen a whole DVD season before. We decided to go to bed early in order to get up at 8 o’clock and catch a matatu home to our families.