The Island of Ukewere is situated in the middle of lake Victoria and is a ferry boat ride of about 31/2 hours north of Mwanza. The ferry boats leave Mwanza harbour and carry everything that goes to or comes from the island the Island. The island does have an airstrip but I spoke to the Kenyan who looks after it and no planes have landed there in a few years. While we were coming in on the ferry there was much excitement because a small float plane had crashed upon an attempted landing at Nansio harbour. No-one was seriously hurt but a it took a few days to salvage and some very sheepish Mzungus were loading it onto a boat to take back to Mwanza. They even duct tapped over the name on the side of the plane when they saw me taking photos!The fact that is an island gives Ukewere a very special feeling. A safety that because it has geographical boundaries and that everyone knows everyone else's business, that nothing major criminal would happen to us. The same isolation that also made it impossible to get any health care that was not already on the island.
When we arrived everybody knew who we were. I know lots of individual white people had been there but I am not sure if they had seen such a bunch of Mzungus before. Most of all the children were absolutely fascinated by us and they were so happy and full of life that immediately I fell in love with the place. The level of poverty in these children was very apparent and many of them wore torn clothing and had no shoes. However children took care of younger siblings and it wasn't at all uncommon to see girls of 4 or 5 years of age with a baby in a cloth strapped to their back. Most of the children loved to have their pictures taken so that they could see themselves on the camera. This was always followed by a near riot of laughing and shouting.
