On a happier note - finally got an email from Clare in Africa....

Greetings at last! Here I am emailing you from an Internet Cafe in Kampala,
Uganda! Who would've thought! How's things? Please ring ma and pa (et al)
and let them know that everything is fine with us. We are both in good
health and spirits. The food is fantastic and the accomodation safe and
relatively comfortable. We are building a school room out of mudbricks ~
with very little technology: lots of sweat and the odd tear. The school is
over-run with hundreds of children of all ages (hard to tell who's what) and
they love us "Muzungus" ~ white people. Africa is an extraordinary place ~
well, the bits I've seen. Johannesburg is a sad place ~ the poverty, the
incredible rubbish problem ~ the 'walled suburbs' that the whites have
retreated to ~ the city has virtually been abandoned and is crumbling
slowly. Crime is a big problem (tho we were quite safe and have had no
hassles of any kind). We went to a place called "Constitution Hill" which is
the site of the old prison which held Mandela among others ~ appalling and
inspirational as they have used the same bricks to build an incredible
human-rights court with fantastic thought and insight and hope for the
future ~ we also met some inner city people doing great outreach work: but
money is the problem, as it is all over Africa (unless you're rich!! and
there are rich Ugandans too!) Botswana was another kettle of fish ~ much
cleaner than SA but with a lot of poverty also. The village of Otse was
quite incredible ~ it's desert country and they clear their blocks because
of snakes, so it was kind of bleak ~ beautiful bleak, as desert can be. We
went to the Kalahari for a night which was fantastic, the highlight of the
Botswana camp for me. The African kids we met there were White Sth Africans
and I found that disappointing as they were quite arrogant and a bit of a
'bad influence' one might say - Georgia had a BALL with them on the camp and
I was at my wits end most of the time!! There were great things in Botswana,
but the Youth Camp was not what I had hoped and quite a challenge with
smoking and stuff. Ah well. G and I survived. Still, otherwise I have been very healthy ~ some of us came down with flues and strange illnesses. Tell mum we are taking our malaria tablets!! I have met some amazing people ~ Africans. Uganda has a
different vibe all together ~ it is also very poor, but vibrant somehow and
very lush and green. The village where we are staying is very poor : the
fishing part on the shore of Lake Victoria in particular: and many many of
the adults there have HIV. It is a huge problem. Many of the children at the
school we are helping to build come from the fishing village and either are
or soon will be, orpans to 'the virus'. The children are like a swarm and
very very friendly. There is something incredibly beautiful about African
children. Many of the adults I have met have been very striking also. On the
first day of work I met a farmer called Matthew and he helped me carry
bricks for a while ~ a very handsome man!! I could find a husband and one for
Georgia 10 times over! We saw some traditional doctors in Botswana called
"Sangormas" and they invited us to a celebration where they communed with
their ancestors: FREAKY!! amazing stuff.