On our arrival in Uganda on 18th August there were two issues we knew we needed to address as soon as possible. First, we had to find a vehicle, then we needed to establish reliable internet communications with home. Seventy-three days later we can announce that both of these issues have now been resolved.
A full account of the Ugandan-Process-for-Transferring-Vehicle-Log-Books saga must wait for a later blog - or it might be more appropriate to serialise the story. We would have told it sooner, but were prevented by a lack of success with our other ambition - to establish a reliable internet connection.
Some of you may well have noticed a smidgen (if that's how you spell it) of frustration in our last blog. This was due to the snail-like quality of the computer we were working on at the time. Since then, however, our levels of frustration with the internet have had occasion to rise to stratospheric levels.
We arrived in Arua to find that we had possible internet access in to two locations -the one computer with internet access located in the office of the Medical Superintendant's Secretary's office in Kuluva Hospital, and the Arua Internet Cafe 'Click 'n Surf'.
Frustration has been fed by 'Internet Incidents' (cf. Culture and Country Incidents) of which the following is a typical example.
Much time had been spent composing some deathless prose for onward transmission via blog or e-mail. The final results were duly transferred to a memory stick and we hastened to the hospital administration block only to discover it was locked. After the odd phone call and a little searching, a key was obtained and we gained access to the inner sanctum whence connections with the wider world may be made. There was much rejoicing......until, that is, we discovered the computer (being a prima donna of a computer) refused to read our memory stick.
We reverted to our own laptop to produce a CD replete with aforesaid deathless prose before returning to the administration block. Having been made privvy to the internet password, we attempted a connection - which failed, as did a second and a third. "Why is this?" (we wondered). "Perhaps the UTL network is down. We must fall back on plan 'B'."
Thus, some 30 minutes later found us at the Click 'n Surf clutching both memory stick and CD. We greeted the owner of the Cafe cheerily (we have seen him often), enquiring which computer we could use, but failing to notice that all the shops in Arua were strangely dark. The Internet Cafe owner hesitated, and looked at us with a expression which managed to both question our level of intelligence, and contain an element of sympathy. "Are they all being used?" we enquired. A rather stupid question considering that when we looked, most of them were clearly unoccupied and all of the screens were black. "No power," came the response, with remarkably Yorkshire-like succinctness. We retired to the street trying to maintain some dignity, but conscious of the barely stifled mirth of those who had been eavesdropping our conversation.
We returned to Kuluva - Mission Unaccomplished - discovering the following day that the reason the hospital internet hadn't worked was because the bill hadn't been paid!
But as from yesterday, everything has changed - we hope. After many phone calls and trips into Arua, and conversations with internet providers, and broken promises and more trips into Arua, and increasingly annoyed phone calls, and second, third, fourth and fifth chances to deliver, an air-lift, a trip to Kampala, and - and a little yellow box which didn't work at first because it was in love with XP and not Vista - we now have our very own internet access which we can carry around Uganda and use almost anywhere (at least that's what they say!). It's not fast (it's dial-up), but it's ours - and patience has won the day!
P.S. Thanks to our faithful blog readers who have continued steadfastly to search our blog for further postings. We'll reward your commitment in the weeks to come - little yellow box permitting!
P.P.S. This is the second version of this blog. I lost the first version when the computer crashed!
A full account of the Ugandan-Process-for-Transferring-Vehicle-Log-Books saga must wait for a later blog - or it might be more appropriate to serialise the story. We would have told it sooner, but were prevented by a lack of success with our other ambition - to establish a reliable internet connection.
Some of you may well have noticed a smidgen (if that's how you spell it) of frustration in our last blog. This was due to the snail-like quality of the computer we were working on at the time. Since then, however, our levels of frustration with the internet have had occasion to rise to stratospheric levels.
We arrived in Arua to find that we had possible internet access in to two locations -the one computer with internet access located in the office of the Medical Superintendant's Secretary's office in Kuluva Hospital, and the Arua Internet Cafe 'Click 'n Surf'.
Frustration has been fed by 'Internet Incidents' (cf. Culture and Country Incidents) of which the following is a typical example.
Much time had been spent composing some deathless prose for onward transmission via blog or e-mail. The final results were duly transferred to a memory stick and we hastened to the hospital administration block only to discover it was locked. After the odd phone call and a little searching, a key was obtained and we gained access to the inner sanctum whence connections with the wider world may be made. There was much rejoicing......until, that is, we discovered the computer (being a prima donna of a computer) refused to read our memory stick.
We reverted to our own laptop to produce a CD replete with aforesaid deathless prose before returning to the administration block. Having been made privvy to the internet password, we attempted a connection - which failed, as did a second and a third. "Why is this?" (we wondered). "Perhaps the UTL network is down. We must fall back on plan 'B'."
Thus, some 30 minutes later found us at the Click 'n Surf clutching both memory stick and CD. We greeted the owner of the Cafe cheerily (we have seen him often), enquiring which computer we could use, but failing to notice that all the shops in Arua were strangely dark. The Internet Cafe owner hesitated, and looked at us with a expression which managed to both question our level of intelligence, and contain an element of sympathy. "Are they all being used?" we enquired. A rather stupid question considering that when we looked, most of them were clearly unoccupied and all of the screens were black. "No power," came the response, with remarkably Yorkshire-like succinctness. We retired to the street trying to maintain some dignity, but conscious of the barely stifled mirth of those who had been eavesdropping our conversation.
We returned to Kuluva - Mission Unaccomplished - discovering the following day that the reason the hospital internet hadn't worked was because the bill hadn't been paid!
But as from yesterday, everything has changed - we hope. After many phone calls and trips into Arua, and conversations with internet providers, and broken promises and more trips into Arua, and increasingly annoyed phone calls, and second, third, fourth and fifth chances to deliver, an air-lift, a trip to Kampala, and - and a little yellow box which didn't work at first because it was in love with XP and not Vista - we now have our very own internet access which we can carry around Uganda and use almost anywhere (at least that's what they say!). It's not fast (it's dial-up), but it's ours - and patience has won the day!
P.S. Thanks to our faithful blog readers who have continued steadfastly to search our blog for further postings. We'll reward your commitment in the weeks to come - little yellow box permitting!
P.P.S. This is the second version of this blog. I lost the first version when the computer crashed!
