June 28, 2010 - Team 2 arrived from Illinois today, and by 9:30 this morning they were at work setting up the library at the brand new (since February) African Children's Choir Music For Life primary school. This is where all touring choirs end up after returning from the U.S. or the United Kingdom, to finish primary school. All children have lost one or both parents. After graduating from MFL, they go to secondary schools in the area. These students have had the same 200 books for years now, so they will eagerly read their new books. The school houses and educates 150 children and was built over the last 3 years on Lake Victoria, in Entebbe, Uganda, south of Kampala.
(Photos courtesy of Lynne Dobson)

June 13, 2010 - Volunteers Direct Scott Porter wrote on his blog: "Friday all 3 of the libraries had been completed and we visited each school for the official openings. It is truly amazing to see the transformation of these rooms to completed libraries in just a few days."

Pictured are new libraries at Kasubi C/U Primary School, Ugandan Martyrs Primary School, and Kitebi Primary.  Read more on Trudy's blog.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Porter.)

June 5, 2010 – Because of a strike by British Airways cabin crew, the flight our volunteers were taking from London to Kampala , Uganda , was canceled.  Re-routing means a very long trip for volunteers who left Austin at 11:45 a.m. today.  Below is the itinerary for the 49-hour trip.

Flight - leave Austin 11:45 am - arrive Chicago 2:15 pm  (3 hr flight, then 6 hr layover)
         - leave Chicago 8:10 pm - arrive in London 9:45 am  (8 hr flight, then 9/10 hr layover)
Normally at this point they fly to Uganda on an 8-hour flight.  Because of the strike, volunteers are now having to fly to Johannesburg , South Africa , and then to Kampala . They also have to split into two groups.  Here is their travel plan:
      Group 1 - leave London 7:00 pm - arrive Johannesburg 7:00 am (11 hr flight, then 7 hr layover)
      Group 2 - leave London 8:00 pm - arrive Johannesburg 8:25 am (11 hr flight, then 6 hr layover)
      Both Groups - leave Johannesburg 2:00 pm - arrive Uganda 7:00 pm (4 hr flight)

This is a lot of flight time and a ton of layover hours.  Normally we start right away building shelving, sorting books and setting up the libraries for 12-hour days the whole first week.  They are now losing a day.  (We normally arrive early Monday morning.) 

Here is the tentative schedule for Team 1 put together by Executive Director Trudy Marshall:

April 23, 2010 - The shipment has completed the overland trip from Mombasa, Kenya, to Kampala, Uganda, after arriving at the port of Mombasa on April 1.  Books and supplies will be kept in storage until volunteers travel to Uganda in June.