Hit me with some inspiration

"If they use you as a pilot and you fail, you have failed Uganda. If they use you as a pilot and you succeed, you are used as a reference."

- Branch Manager, AIDS Information Center, Arua District, on being one of the 8 pilot districts for the couples HIV counseling and testing campaign

Believe it or not, the neverending speed humps and mud road rivers featured in "Up, Up and A...rua" were not the highlights of my trip upcountry. Rather, it was the dedication, support and enthusiasm the district leadership showed for the upcoming couples HIV counseling and testing campaign. Here, some of the quotes that keep me going:

"What you are coming up with has been missing. I will be a partner in sensitizing. Everywhere I go I will tell them about this good campaign." - Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Soroti District

"I will put all my weight behind this, and I would like to pledge that the district will be fully behind this." - Chairman for Social Services, Arua District

"It has been a very short workshop, but very intensive, educative, and all-impressing. I think you will invite me again." - Madame RDC, Lira District

"Mbale, Kampala, Soroti - what did you put? If you put 5,000, we are putting 10,000. Because as Arua, we want to excel." - Branch Manager, AIDS Information Center, Arua District, on setting district targets