Extend! Extend!

The story of a journey from Kampala to Kiwoko, Ugandan style.

The main public transport here are little 9 seater minibuses called matatus, painted white with a blue pattern and adorned with varying encouraging messages on the front such as 'Jesus Saves' and 'John 3:16'. After spending the weekend in Kampala the other students and I headed to the main bus park in Kampala to catch the bus back to Kiwoko. It was absolute mayhem, similar to the bus park in Kathmandu - buses everywhere in a muddy, dusty, potholey park, with no indication either on the ground or on the buses which ones are going where. We asked someone for help, and he waved vaguely to the other side of the park; we then weaved in and out of these buses until we found someone who said 'follow me' and took us to a bus. We piled in, already pretty sweaty because of the humid African heat, and waited for the bus to fill up. Meanwhile sellers came to the windows offering all sorts from cold drinks, sunglasses, fake watches and food to posters of the recent riots in Kampala.

After lots of horn tooting, manouvering and loud shouts to the other buses from our driver we set off towards Kiwoko. The first part of the journey was pretty uneventful and an hour and a bit later we rolled into Luweero bus station, 14km from Kiwoko. We were turfed off this bus and onto another, very old and battered looking one, whose windscreen had an ominous looking crack down the middle, that looked like it would struggle to make it out of the bus park, let alone along the potholed dirt track to the hospital. With about 11 people in we pulled off, but it seemed we were just going to the garage to inflate the tyres and fill up with petrol, then drive back to the bus park and wait for more passengers. A lady with 4 children piled in. Great, we thought, bus definitely full now - lets go. Not so fast! Another lap of the bus park to pick up some potatoes to put in the boot, and tie some luggage onto the roof and then off goes the engine again. Cries of 'extend! extend!', which interprets as 'budge up, this bus can take plenty more passengers yet' and we all squished up to allow another passenger to join the overloaded bus, and then another 3 children.

Now it's getting really very full, we're squished into the back seats all v. sweaty and dusty by this point. But then shock horror...another passenger turned up, but not just anyone - one of the Sisters from the hospital. She is some lady. A formidable size, with what can only be described as a 'shelf bottom', something so big it almost eclipses the sun. There was no way she was going to fit in this tiny minbus - there were already 18 people in a bus designed for 9, but this didn't to pose any problem to the driver. He turfed a couple of passengers out of the front seat, who joined the sweaty mob in the back (more cries of 'extend!') and Sister squeezed into the front. Finally it appeared we were going to leave, about an hour after changing buses. We pulled off and drove a little further along the road through Luweero, only to stop AGAIN and pick up not one but TWO more passengers. There wasn't a whole lot of extending we could do - the middle of the minibus was full to bursting, so as a solution a couple of children were passed backwards to join the sweaty, cramped muzungus on the back row, making use of the vertical space by sitting on our knees so the extra passengers could fit in; they didn't bat an eyelid, despite the common rumour here that white people eat children. Final tally: 22 passengers in a 9 seater bus. Oh yes.

Made it back to Kiwoko in one piece, very dusty, VERY sweaty and very glad to get home for a much needed shower.

Starting hospital placement proper tomorrow - medical stories to follow!