Here is his diary so far ...

Thursday Feb 12

Today we visited Ngugulo Primary school to teach fire safety. Firstly, when we initially met the children we discussed Mityana's recent fire disasters.

On the day of our arrival there was a fire in Kibibi secondary school dormitory.

Luckily no children were injured on this occasion. This news travels round the community and the locals fear another tragedy will be soon.

The children are very receptive and eager to learn as a result of this devastating news.

Our interpreteur Phiona Ntabadde is a resident of Mitayana, a very good friend of the charity, and extremely efficient.

Her language skills are more than adequate, and the children are very fond of her.

The instruction we delivered covered many aspects of fire safety, which included candle safety - `Stop, drop. and roll' (which is what they are instructed to do if ever they're clothes catch fire) – consequences of fire, fire growth and its behaviour under certain conditions; escape plans and routes; safe evacuation (walk don't run); roll/register call and raise the alarm

At this particular school, although the children were very young, they were very receptive and made a great audience.

The charity believes that if there is an answer to the fire problem in Mityana then it must be solved through educating the children … especially at this very tender age where they are at they're most impressionable.

The children are used to a very different method of learning.

Traditional third world teaching methods only focus on `rote' learning styles. At Ngugulo we used an array of technical equipment to demonstrate to the children the power of fire and what it can do.

Visual aids such as projector/screen were used to display videos of fire control to show the children how fire will grow and the sheer speed at which it will spread.

Also, to help get the message of fire safety across to the children I wrote a simple nursery rhyme to sing to them. The words in the rhyme contained the message of `stop, drop, and roll' - as required. This was fun for the children - they learned the rhyme very quickly and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was a great way to end the lesson.

Most of the children can't afford shoes … and some of them can't afford uniforms.

This makes no difference at all to their attitude to life and learning, the children of Uganda will do their best come what may.

Friday 13th February

Today we visited St Kizitu Catholic All Girls Secondary School. The boarding school currently has 350 students.

Today's activities included the same content as yesterday but more in depth, such as the science behind fire behaviour. We illustrated the early stages of fire growth, through its developing stage, the apex, and the decay. Additionally, we trained the whole school, including staff, in evacuation procedures.

This included raising the alarm, evacuation of the buildings, rendezvous at a central point in the yard, and finally, a role call is undertaken to ensure that all persons are accounted for.

At present there is no such procedures in place, and no means of raising the alarm.

We organized a whole new procedure of raising the alarm as there was no recognizable sound they could use. For this, we designed a certain rhythm that the `time keepers' could use which was different to any other sound. That way, the students can be sure that they recognize the sound as a warning that there is a fire.

The staff were advised that they must practice this drill monthly if the students are to become familiar with the procedure.

This is the only way to implement our strategy … and that is to save lives.

Sunday Feb 15th

Today was a fascinating day. We were very kindly invited to Sekanyonyi village by one of our interpreteur's Rhoda Sentamu. This is where Rhoda's family are from.

In particular, we were very honored to meet her Great Grandmother of 105 years old.

The compound in which the family reside is very multi-generational, others that live there are neighbours who help to look after her great grandmother.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Rhoda's brothers and sisters. The Family was ever so kind. They cooked a superb meal of Matoke (mashed banana), fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, and soda to wash it all down.

After the meal I retrieved my guitar from the boot of the car. I chose a nice cool spot under a Mango tree and began entertaining the family with some western music.

The family were very appreciative, Rhoda's great grandmother returned the favour with a traditional dance - unbelievable!

This was an extremely cultured trip, a really magnificent experience. For the first time since arriving in Uganda I had experienced what real life is like for the local people here.

This, I will remember for the rest of my life.