In January 2022 I had an idea for the third and final book in the Betsie Valentine Trilogy. In the first book Betsie is 7/8 years old and learns all about the lifecycle of the honeybee inside and outside of a hive and what a vital role they play in our lives and that of our planet. In the second book she is 11 and learning to be a beekeeper and discovering how much the honeybees can teach her. In the third book, she will be 15/16 and studying for her GCSE’s. There is a new GCSE on the curriculum - Natural History - “It enables students to develop a rich understanding of the natural world: from their own local wildlife, environment and ecosystem to critical global challenges like climate change, biodiversity and sustainability.” A perfect subject for Betsie Valentine!

It just so happens, I know the people at the charity Bees For Development - beesfordevelopment.org - and live quite near their head office and beautiful shop. Bees for Development is an“international charity that works to alleviate poverty through beekeeping in poor and remote communities. Honeybees support sustainable livelihoods while providing an essential ecosystem service.” So, I’m thinking, with Betsie’s love of nature and honeybees perhaps she could go to one of their places in Africa, as research for her GCSE, to see how this works for herself. Now to put the idea in to practice!

I arranged to have a chat with Janet Lowore, the programme manager at Bees For Development, to discuss the idea. She put me in touch with the Rogers Wasibi, the Manager of Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-op - mountelgoncoffeeandhoneycoop.com - a co-operative business that Bees For Development helped to get off the ground.

I had to wait for the honey season and children to still be at school and that worked out to be February 2023, so, after a year of zoom calls, emails and planning, on February the 5th 2023, I took off from Heathrow Airport bound for Mbale, Uganda. My/Betsie’s African adventure had begun.

An eight and half hour flight to Nairobi, six hours in transit, one hour flight to Entebbe. Overnight stop in an airport hotel. Up first thing in the morning, ready and waiting, to be picked up by Rogers and driven the arduous eight hour journey that it is to Mbale!

To be honest, the journey was long, but not arduous. My excitement, preoccupation and fascination with what Rogers referred to as “The Wonders of Uganda” was a great distraction!. Eventually on the 7th February I arrived at The Mbale Resort Hotel - mbaleresorthotel.com/en/ - and after a brief walk around the place I promptly went to bed and slept soundly until morning.

8th February 2023 - WOMEN OF HOPE -

First thing, as arranged, Rogers arrived and we headed off to my first meeting with The Women of Hope. A group of Women living with HIV and AIDS. We met at their apiary because they wanted me to see where and how they kept their bees. As Rogers and I made our way towards the apiary I saw a slow and steady stream of women, on their own and in groups of two’s and three’s, walking across the fields. As they arrived they chatted, quietly, amongst themselves and I sensed a feeling of reservation.

We waited for the interpreter and then all sat down together. First and foremost I thanked them all for their time and willingness to talk to me about their circumstances and how beekeeping had improved their lives. AIDS, as most of us will remember, was identified in the early 80’s. It was a terrible time. A time, before we were properly educated, when people with AIDS were ostracized from society all over the world. And now, these women in Africa, who had little or nothing to start with, had husbands who were dying, children who were dying and dying themselves. (Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV, with an estimated 25.7 million HIV-positive people in Africa by the end of 2018. This figure represents over two-thirds of infected people globally. African women and girls represent a majority of those infected, and Africa is home to three-fourths of all HIV-infected women and girls.). Women of Hope was started by Josephine Nomono, a woman whose husband had died and who, herself, had been inflicted with AIDS. She made it her business to find out more about the illness she had been left with and the more she found out, the more she started to talking to women who gradually came out from behind closed doors and said they too had AIDS. She told them where they could get help, information and drugs that would help control their condition. She told them not to be ashamed and, that they, like anyone else living with an illness that had to be monitored, could live a normal life.

A community of women soon assembled and called themselves Women of Hope. Josephine was put in touch with Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-op and trained by Community-Based Beekeeper Trainers to become a beekeeper herself and learned how the honeybees could provide a living wage. By harvesting their honey and wax and turning it into a sustainable profitable business, they would be able to put food on their tables, educate their children and have independence.

Together we shared our beekeeping experiences; they told me about the african bees, how they keep them and harvest the honey etc and I explained what the honeybees mean to us in the UK, and attempted to explain how we go about beekeeping. It’s very different.

In Africa the honey bees are wild, aggressive and there are a lot of them! They catch swarms with bait hives, they don’t check their bees, they simply smoke them when the honey is ready for harvesting and start all over again.

In the UK, the honeybees are not wild. Every honeybee you see belongs to a beekeeper. Unless you are a commercial beekeeper, it is a hobby. It’s a hobby that we do to “save the bees.” As a result of the way we have done beekeeping over the centuries, importing bees from foreign countries etc, and because of use of harmful herbicides and pesticides our honeybees have become subject to diseases and so we have to constantly check them and treat them if need be.

The Women of Hope were very surprised to hear that: (A) t’s a hobby for us. (B) we are so hands on with our bees and (C) they are under threat of disappearing. In Arica it’s their livelihood. In the UK it’s to save the bees.

Plus and minuses?

Africa • Plus points • They don’t interfere with their bees therefore there are lots of them • Minus Points • As they don’t have a queen rearing system in place they are very aggressive and it’s not something they would never consider as a hobby!

UK • Plus points • It’s a wonderful hobby that’s doing something positive for the honeybees and environment for which our reward is the honey. • Minus Points • Our bees continue to face pressure from a variety of pests, diseases and environmental threats including the invasive non-native species Asian hornet. Please follow this link to see the work that is being done to help beekeepers and our honeybees. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defra-launches-the-healthy-bees-plan-2030-to-help-protect-honey-bees#:~:text=Honey%20bees%20contribute%20directly%20to,production%20and%20the%20wider%20environment.

It wasn’t long before these inspirational women, whose positivity could only leave you full of respect and admiration, were laughing, applauding and dancing for and with me. “The Wonders of Uganda” had begun to unfold.

After a few refreshments, more talking and dancing Roger’s and I went to our next meeting at HQ of Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-operative to meet some of the people who help run the place and find out more about it.

Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Cooperative originated from The Beekeeping Coffee integration project under the heading Mbale Coalition Against Poverty which was funded by Bees For Development. It was a response to climate change and poverty alleviation in ‘coffee farming families’ who were experiencing the effects of climate in the Mount Elgon region from 2012 to 2016.

The project focused on promoting beekeeping as a diversification of income for smallholder coffee farmers. It established Community Based Trainers (CBBT) as an extension model for imparting skills and knowledge to farmers who then transferred the acquired skills and knowledge to fellow farmers.

Beekeeping seemed to be an obvious answer to the sustainable continuation of coffee planting. So, after a successful integration of beekeeping with coffee production among farmer members in 2016, the farmers - during an exit meeting - resolved to form Mount. Elgon Coffee and Honey Cooperative to continue the bulking and marketing of coffee and honey produced.

9th February 2023 - KOLONYI WOMEN’S FARMING AND BEEKEEPING GROUP -

Off to Kolonyi Salem to meet the two women who founded the Kolonyi Women’s Farming & Beekeeping Group. Ruth Ajelong and Ida Anyango. Both have a deep love and appreciation of nature and well being. Ruth and her husband own a small holding, where they have a couple of cattle, chickens, large herb garden, many fruit trees including mango, coffee and banana trees and a very large apiary site. They have both studied herbal medicine and use the honey, wax, herbs and juices from fruits to produce tinctures and creams that they turn into herbal medicines and sell in their village and villages nearby. They have 24 women in their group, each of whom have between 1 and 5 hives and they are constantly trying to draw more women in. “It’s a wonderful thing,” they said, “to have women sit together, pray together and talk while they work. When we share problems, life becomes easier and we start to laugh again.” I told them it’s the same in the UK and the world over. They looked surprised and said, (and I quote)… "Really? Yes? Is it?” “Of course” I said, “ a community/circle of women is a very powerful thing; you’ll even find a women’s circle in a colony of honeybees!” I showed them a picture on my phone with the worker bees gathered in a circle, drinking up spilt honey. “In my mind,” I told them, “they’re chattering away while setting the world to rights” They loved the picture but told me they wouldn’t get that close to African bees!

And so we wandered over to their apiary which was surrounded by tall pine trees, all of which had been planted by Ruth and her husband. Pine trees, incidentally, are very good for the bees to gather propolis from. Propolis being their natural medicine and the “cement” they use to fill any gaps in their hives. Their hives are kept under shelter to protect them from predators, both animal and human. Stealing hives is a big problem here. They don’t know why they take them, maybe for the money they can get from the hives; top bar & national hives for example, such as these can sell for quite a bit. The metal sheets they put on the top are valuable too and then there’s the honey of course. The people who steal hives like this won’t take the honey in a humane way, sometimes, they say, they burn the bees to get to the honey. They don’t filter it and they probably add water to it. The message here is - never buy honey from a street seller - it is bound to be contaminated in some way or another! Each one of these shelters can house between 40 - 50 hives and Ada and Ruth have four shelters on their site. For those of us who are beekeepers in the UK, having such a huge amount of hives under one roof is unthinkable!

We went back to Ruth’s farm and they produced some wonderful fruit from their farm which we sat and ate together, but, before we did I asked if I could wash my hands. Josephine, Ruth’s granddaughter, appeared with a kettle and a dish with soap on. Of course, they didn’t have a bathroom and water is in such short supply. Josephine was so beautiful, gentle and graceful, this, for some reason, was a moment that truly touched my heart. “The wonders of Uganda” (See Video above)

10th February 2023 - st paul’s college & THE GUMATINDO COFFEE CO-OP ENTERPRISE

While on the way to meet the children of St. Paul’s College in Mbale, Rogers told me that it’s very important to a lot of the people in Uganda that they speak English. He only speaks English to his children at home and they learn their Ugandan dialect at school. He said if they want to get on in life they should be able to speak a universal language. This was confirmed by the big sign that greeted us upon our arrival. The students were very excited as, that afternoon, they would be parading through the streets celebrating passing their final exams! But first… they had to meet me! I had come to talk to them about the honeybees and beekeeping; they are learning about beekeeping but not so much about the actual honeybees themselves. I donated a hive to their apiary, which they asked me to sign… fame at last! I actually donated four hives and equipment to four different schools but sadly I only managed to visit two of them; there was only so much we could fit into 6 days. By the way, I think I must be the only person to have given a talk about the honeybees - with the temperature at 38º - in a bee suit - in the middle of the day - no shade! Mad dogs and Englishmen comes to mind!

After my talk and a barrage of questions, really good ones at that, we went to see their apiary, above, where we talked about the importance of the symbiotic relationship between the bees and the coffee trees at their apiary and the resulting honey and wax which could be used to make things that they could sell. Coffee - honey integration they called it.

No rest for the wicked; I was whisked away to meet the women who are employed by Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-op to sort out the good coffee beans from the not good. This was done at the Gumatindo Coffee Co-op Enterprise - https://www.trickleout.net/index.php/directory-pilot/Uganda_/gumutindo-coffee-co-operative-enterprises-ltd - They have a policy of only employing women from poorer communities, not as exploitation, no sir, not at all, but to give them work that brings in a fair wage. Again, this gives women who have little or nothing a sense of purpose, independence and pride. No tears from these ladies, no poor me… just unorchestrated huge smiles.

11th February 2023 - sipi falls - mount elgon wildlife authority -

A day off with Rogers and three of his children, Isaac and two of his and Evelyn Wabule in pictures!

Sipi Falls consists of three waterfalls, found in the village of Sipi, in the Kapchorwa district of eastern Uganda.

The glorious falls were named after the Sipi River, which in turn was named after a locally grown plant called ‘Sep’. The plant resembles a wild banana and is used for medicinal purposes as it’s believed to treat measles and fevers.

Look closely at picture no. 3 and you will see a beehive in amongst the trees. We beekeeper’s don’t miss a trick!

For information about Mount Elgon and The Wild Life Trust… Follow this link - https://ugandawildlife.org/national-parks/mount-elgon-national-park/

12TH FEBRUARY 2023 - STRONG FOUNDATION EDUCATION CENTRE

“If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”

This is a privatley sponsored school for ‘vulnerable children at risk’ who have been, for one reason or another, orphaned or abandoned.

Rogers and I pulled into the school gates and instantly we were surrounded by a group of children, who raced up to our car and had to be gently cajoled away so I could get out! I felt as if I was being filmed for a television documentary, and somewhere a Director had shouted to the children “Run to the car now!” I’d never experienced anything like this before. They grasped my hands, arms, legs, reached up to touch my hair, my clothes and all of this while welcoming me with squeals of delight and enormous grins. Apparently they had been told about my pending visit just before Christmas 2022 and were more than ready for my arrival.

Once the teachers had prized me away from the children, (and I had to be prized because they were so adorable), I had a meeting with Lydia Mutendo - Head Teacher • Charles Wakimwayi - Chairman of Nanyo Community Action (NCA) and The Strong Foundation Education Centre • Vincent Walyianla - Deputy Head and Finance and Racheal Khayiji - Social Worker. They briefed me about the children, their needs and their work. One of the many things they would like achieve is to build the facilities to enable the most vulnerable children to board so they can keep them safe. Once outside the school gates children can be snatched, used and abused. It’s a terrible thought for me but, worse still, a dreadful reality for them.

Before I was taken into their classroom I was introduced to some young girls, from outside of the school, who were being taught various skills to help them get work. By the time I had left they had made me a beautiful dress!

And so we ventured onto the classroom where these wonderful children greeted me with a song they had written - “Although you are very far away we will never ever forget you.” They sang another song of praise and read out a beautiful poem about the honeybees they had all put together.

We drew pictures of a queen bee which they copied from my book, Betsie Valentine And The Honeybees. This caused much excitement because these children had never drawn before . Can you imagine? And, I can tell you, there were some naturally gifted artists among them. I gave them a talk about the honeybees and at the end they asked lots of questions; well I did say they could ask me anything! You see, they know the honeybee makes honey and produces wax, but they knew very little else. Even the teachers were asking questions and writing things down. I told them it was all in the book!

After the talk we went outside where they lined up, well they were supposed to line up but excitement got the better of them, to taste some honey that I’d brought with me from Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-op. This is their first beehive and their adventure into beekeeping was just beginning. It was nice for them to taste the fruits of their proposed hard work!

After the honey tasting session, the hive and bee equipment I had bought them, was presented to the school along with my books.

Finally, after some fun and games in the playground, which incidentally has no play equipment in whatsoever, it was my privilege to hand out their lunch.

The smiles and their sheer joy will stay with me forever and one day I hope to return to the school, in the not too distant future, to see how they’re getting on with the bees and taste the honey they’ve produced. Ahhhh that feeling swept over me once again… The wonders of Uganda …

13th FEBRUARY 2023 - JOSEPHINE NOMONO & EBENEZER RADIO -

My last day in Mbale. Josephine Nomono, the Chair of The Women of Hope, wanted to meet me. She hadn’t been at our original meeting as she had other commitments so we met back at the apiary. She had walked for half a day to meet us. She, very generously, told me about her experience with AIDS, how her husband had died and left her with this terrible illness and how she, as I wrote above in ‘The Women of Hope” section, made up her mind that she was not an outcast, she deserved respect and felt that the diagnosis could not just be the end of her life. So she set about finding out as much as she could about the condition, was given medicine to help her and went on to become the inspiration for many other like women. Proud of who she is and what she achieved, it was an honour to meet her. She’s not only the Chair of Women of Hope but an important member of Intra Health team. She is the Health Mentor for HIV and AIDS in her community. We walked with her back to the road and offered her a lift to her home, but unsurprisingly for a women of this stature, someone whose reputation has been gained by her strong will and ability to achieve, she politely declined our offer saying she knew a quicker way back!

Later on in the afternoon Rogers and I made our way to Ebenezer Radio station where we were guests on a talk show hosted by Daphne Wabule - Head of Youths Programme and Environment Link Presenter. I talked about the reason for my visit, the difference between beekeeping in the UK and Africa, what I had learned, what I hoped I’d inspired and what I would take back home with me. Finally people were invited to ask questions. By the end of the session, when our ‘air time’ had run out Rogers’ phone was buzzing with questions all evening with people wanting to know how they could go about becoming beekeepers. In the morning I’d received three emails through my website asking me about beekeeping. I, obviously, thanked them for getting in touch and forwarded the enquiries on to Rogers. Needless to say Rogers was delighted from the response. Just think, this was the reaction to raising the awareness about how beekeeping can help transform lifes on a small radio station in the middle of Mbale; what sort of impact could it have on a larger radio station?

14th february - the long journey home -

February 14th, Valentine’s Day, a day when people celebrate love. It holds a little more significance for me because It’s the day my mother died. Of course she did! She would never have left her two girls on a date they would struggle to remember and what a date she left us on… a day to celebrate love… and love us she did. And now it’s the day I had to leave a place and people I have genuinely fallen in love with.

Before we left for Entebbe, Rogers wanted me to meet Apollo Mwenyi, The Executive Director of Mbale Coalition Against Poverty - (Mbale CAP) - and - Partnership Overseas Networking Trust - (Mbale PONT). He played a significant role in the Bees for Development project in Mbale and continues to work closely with the Welsh Government who have a small charity in Rhondda Cynon Taff, South Wales which is making a big difference in Mbale. Follow this link - https://pont-mbale.org.uk/ - for more details about Mbale CAP and Mbale PONT.

Apollo was very interested in my visit and told me there are 100 schools in Wales who are linked to them and advised me to get in touch with them as they would be more than interested in this visit and my books. As I now live on the borders of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Wales I was very grateful for this information! Also, I cannot tell a lie, having visited Mbale, met the people and listened to everyone’s stories I would like to stay in touch and somehow be of help. I haven’t quite figured out how… but I will be working on it!

And so the long 8 hour drive began. The first hour or so was on the normal unmade-up, dusty, bumpy roads that I’d become accustomed to. The traffic wasn’t too bad but as we got closer to Jinja - the halfway point between Mbale and Entebbe - the roads got better but the traffic got worse. But that was OK as we had to stop off in Jina to deliver Mount Elgon Coffee to a beautiful shop - Local Flavors -https://www.facebook.com/LocalFlavoursJinja/ - which is a marketplace where producers, artists and artisans in Uganda can showcase and sell their goods. Rogers was delighted because, in addition to the coffee they already sell there, the lady said she would like to sell their honey. A win for Rogers and the Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey co-op.

We had lunch in Jinja before setting off again and very soon found ourselves at a stand still in horrendous traffic. Our driver decided to "‘wing it” and take the scenic route which involved 3 more hours of dusty bumpy roads to bypass Kampala. I decided to pay the price for Data Roaming and turned on Sat Nav on my phone,! They’d never seen Sat Nav and were delighted when it picked up our location and delivered us safely to the outskirts of Entebbe! My stomach, I can tell you, took a good few days to recover!

A stay overnight in Entebbe at the Protea Hotell before my flights back home. A chance to reflect on, what had been for me, a trip of a lifetime.

Rogers asked me, on the drive to Entebbe, “what is your best and worst memory of Uganda?” It wasn’t difficult to answer.

The worst…the plastic waste; bottles, bin liners, bags - everywhere - but - on the radio, as we were driving, they announced the government was cracking down on plastic waste and there would be fines for anyone who was seen throwing it to the ground. Rogers wasn’t convinced about the announcement and said the Ugandans probably wouldn’t listen or care, but I for one was delighted the problem had been acknowledged and thought it’s a start!

The best memory, without a doubt, has to be the people; their smiles, their warmth, their generosity, their spirit. They will live in my heart forever.

I’d set off to on this trip to gather information for the third book in The Betsie Valentine Trilogy. Of course, I had done my homework but I could never have imagined the effect Mbale and it’s people would have on me. I left with so much more.

Thank you for reading this very long blog. Before I bid you fairwell, I really would like to thank Janet Lowore, Project Manager at Bees For Development and Rogers Wasibi, Manager at Mount Elgon Coffee And Honey Co-op for all their help. Without them this trip would not have take place and the third and final book probably never written.

To find out more about them both please click on the following links - https://www.beesfordevelopment.org/ AND https://mountelgoncoffeeandhoneycoop.com/

Finally, finally - evelyn wabule

Yes, she really does deserve her own headline!

I really could not leave this blog without giving a special mention to my, now, friend for life - Evelyn Wabule - The Field Extension Worker at Mount Elgon Coffee and Honey Co-op.

From the moment we met she held my hand, made me laugh, looked after and out for me and she will feature heavily in the last book which will of course be called - Betsie Valentine and The Wonders of Uganda -

Thank you one and all….

PS. Having ploughed your way through this blog… below is the 10 minute version of my visit in video form. The music alone will make you want to visit the wonder that is Uganda…

MUSIC BY - INKA OKELY & SUNMISOLA AGBEBI

Thank you again UGANDA… Wanyala naabi