Living Out Of A Suitcase

The Guest House at the Ugandan Protestant Medical Bureau (UPMB) in Kampala is comfortable enough, but still the prospect of living out of a suitcase for four weeks in one of its rooms didn’t fill us with delight. Nevertheless, the Ugandan Nurses Council decision that Anne should complete one month working in a Kampala hospital to receive her nurse registration meant that we had little option.

UPMB is situated in the Mengo district of Kampala on the Balintuma Road. Walking from Albert Cook Road past Mengo Hospital and down Balintuma Road after dark can be an exciting business. There are no street lights, so avoiding the open manholes and stray pieces of reinforcing rods emerging from the pavement is an art, not least because headlights on full beam from oncoming traffic tends to blind the poor pedestrian. Then closer to the Guest House there is no pavement at all and recent ‘slashing’ of foliage along the side of the road has resulted in a tangle of branches and other sharp objects for the unsuspecting walker to trip over, possibly into the path of oncoming boda-bodas (motor-cycles) with no lights at all or, veering off course, falling into a storm drain.

The main reason we stayed at UPMB was the cost of its rooms - a very reasonable 37,000 Ush per night (c.£10.60). But there is no lounge, you have to pass an Advanced Driving Test in order to park your vehicle in its restricted parking area, and meals are served in a large and cheerless room often with empty tables because people who stay here frequently eat out.

We ate out on our first evening, and walking back along the Albert Cook Road past a petrol station, saw a small crowd gathered there. There, in the forecourt, was the body of a man who had been shot by the petrol station’s security guard shortly before. The story appeared in The New Vision two days later.

But there are benefits living here. For Anne, Mengo Hospital, where she is based for the month, is only five minutes’ walk away, as is the Church of Uganda Provincial Office (for Allan’s benefit) and Namirembe Cathedral. But there is a much more significant benefit, to meet other people who stay at the Guest House.

This is the reason we eat here every other day, simply to meet people like Ernest Sempebwa. Ernest is a Ugandan, easily well into his ‘70s, who for many years lived and studied in the UK, at one time looking after all the Ugandan students who came to London University. He is very well educated, and his thinking and conversation are razor-sharp (even first thing in the morning), but seasoned with a wonderful sense of humour, genuine humility and a lively Christian faith. He comes to UPMB with a team of others (old and young) who are in the process of producing a new translation of the Bible into Lugandan (the local language of this region). They have been working on it for 18 years! A teacher by profession, Ernest, and those he is working with, can transform the dining room with their sheer energy and enthusiasm.

The same is true for cosmopolitan conversation and Christian fellowship with other Ugandans, Germans, Canadians, Kenyans, Americans, South Africans, South Koreans, and so many others. The picture above is of a group of health workers from Rwanda, Judy, Michel and Jean who were on a course in Kampala. We had a great evening with them and this picture is just a token of the rich experiences we have enjoyed even in our four weeks living out of a suitcase in a single room at the UPMB Guest House in Kampala.

Perhaps it’s not so bad after all.