Friday..

A massive storm happening outside as I write this evening.   These storms are really something here - wind, lightning, thunder and lashings of rain & they are a virtually a daily occurrence although the one tonight is of particular note.  And cool tonight too though I'm not complaining about that as the power is still down so no fan again.  We had power yesterday for a few hours in the evening but since I arrived we've probably only had power for around 40% of the time.   The generator is on most of the time at the Project but only a few hours a day at the guesthouse - it's quite a challenge and really impacts how people function, not to mention huge fuel costs in running the generator which are difficult for the Project to budget sufficiently for and fund.
Arrived back to my room today to find a gecko (lizard type thing) staring up at me from the toilet!!  Wasn't sure if it was alive or dead and didn't intend to poke it.  Went and fetched a member of the staff who came with two sticks and hitched it out - it was still alive.  It had probably crept in to the bathroom and slipped in.  It did rather stop me in my tracks.

Work at the Project has been intense over the last few days.   Unfortunately, what appeared on the face of it to be a very organised and well kept set of records (and of  the expenditure records that are kept, these are well organised and have reasonably good controls in place), there is a lack of completeness and accuracy within the financial records in entirety.  And, the controls over cash and bank balances are more or less absent.  This has made verification of balances virtually impossible, made all the more impossible by my lack of confidence in the accuracy of the last audited statements.  What is frustrating is that I now feel like I've started an audit that I shall not be able to complete, at least to a satisfactory standard.  There have been no bank statements received since 1 January so we've had to request these - a 3 day process here.  So I 've been working frantically to do as much as I possibly can to help them tidy things up as well provide structure and guidance for Robert on how to implement certain key procedural controls going forward.    But it doesn't feel satisfactory - really following this stage, there should be a period of supervision so that Robert can be trained and supervised in implementing the new procedures.  I just hope he can take it forward - he is bright, but doesn't always understand (or hasn't been trained to) the importance of key controls. 

Only one formal day of training left on Monday with Tuesday reserved for loose ends and also a field trip in the morning.  Hard to believe that this time next week I shall be back in the UK.  Over this weekend, I shall be meeting Winnie & Boscoe from the Project on Saturday afternoon and taking a walk with them to a few places around town.  On Sunday morning, I plan to go to the orphanage run by Lois from New Zealand.  Was meant to go last weekend but she was in Kampala.

Tried to change my traveller's cheques today but no bank in town would take them!  So, resorting to ATM and have to make sure I leave sufficient time to collect enough cash - first instalment today and the rest over the weekend and on Monday.  No-one takes anything other than cash here and the sums can be big - £500 is in excess of 1.5 million UGX.

Hope I sleep better tonight - last night, there were dogs barking interspersed with cockerels and whatever else fancied chirping in, all from about 3am til 7am on and off.