First post from Kampala

I'm writing this post from Namirembe Guest House, in the capital of Uganda, Kampala. It still feels a bit surreal to be here, and inside I'm feeling very wobbly, like my head is not connected to my body!

I'm here with nine other Christians from Church of the Good Shepherd, Four Marks, as part of its Mission 2008 program. The basic idea is that we're celebrating the church's 100th anniversary by sending out 100 "blessings" to others, across the room, across the street and across the world. Our team are here to serve the church in Karamoja, an impoverished region of Uganda that is linked with the Winchester diocese.

Tomorrow morning we'll be flying to Karamoja on a MAF flight that will take six of the team to Moroto, in South Karamoja, and three of the team (including myself) to Kotido, in the more rural North Karamoja. One of my functions in the team is to install two laptops in the diocesan office in Kotido, and provide training in their use. The team will also be visiting local schools and manyatta's and speaking in local churches (Christ Church, Kotido on the first Sunday and St Peter's Church, Kabong on the second Sunday).

We'll be living with the locals, possibly in a manyatta like the one below!