The second family I stayed with was Gerry and Moira’s Nobel. Gerry grew up with my mother (Linda) in Northern Ireland, and they sang in the choir together. Morris currently works at the international school as an assistant head teacher. Gerry had his hands in many pies (I think that’s the best way to explain it). He original came out here as a doctor, and then with a business partner developed a model to provide medial insurance to low income families. This later developed into a multi-million pound company with Gerry becoming a social Entrepreneur, guest speaking at places like Harvard.
Long story short, the corruption in the government here led to the company being forced into receivership (I think), and Gerry has been involved in a very long legal process to right that wrong. He’s still very much an Entrepreneur at heart, with a few different business ideas on the go at the moment. I’ve very much enjoyed spending time hear about them all and learning from all his experience.
The house they live in he described to me as a “bit of a Dr Seuss”. Here in Uganda there are now rules preventing you living in a house that isn’t fully built, so it’s very common for people to build houses in stages. Gerry, Moira and Lizzie’s (their daughter) are very much in the middle of development, with doors on the side of the house where stair cases will be and open space where walls will eventually be. But the view is nothing short of breath taking. And so far tops by best view so far. It’s panoramic, with Lake Victoria on the right and green hills spreading out to the left, dotted with little houses. It’s wonderful. You can sit on the sofa and just watch the view – not through the window, because there is no window, or wall for that matter to put the window in. But I like that, it’s like being outside, while being inside.
