Cultural Observations

As I go around Kampala and throughout the country, there are a lot of just -different- things I see. This is a collection of funny views I've enjoyed.


Now it technically says, "Slow, men at work". But I very often think there could be a different emphasis, making it say, "Slow men~ at work". That is, after all, how road construction goes here. VERY slowly and often not so effectively.


A lot of artisans here like to make statues for you to put in your yard or (more likely) in hotels or parks, etc. I've seen this statue many times and am not surprised it has not yet sold. Who would want a dead impala with a leopard getting ready to eat it in their back yard?


Once I was turning around in the parking lot of the Kampala International University campus. I was surprised that over in this corner they have these statues. Random place for them. People often stop and pose by them, though.


Delight and Kenneth Hopson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting (WGM missionaries) are back from their Homeland Ministry now (they'd been gone 9-10 months). The week they returned was Kenneth's birthday, so Delight and I took him to a restaurant called Spurs. We had to think a bit before understanding the meaning of the English in this table card/tent. Diarise here we figured out means to put into a diary or (in American English- into a calendar/agenda). I've never seen such grammar so it was good for a laugh.


I have seen fridges before on bodas, but never got a picture till now. I've also missed taking a picture of a HUGE bathtub on another boda. But I'm mostly amazed that the drivers can wing these things through traffic as they do.


This is hopefully clear enough for you to see how tight traffic gets here. I was in my car, stopped in traffic (or of course I'd not take a picture), and this is pretty standard if you are in a jam here.


On the way out of town to our field retreat, we saw this truck stuck in one of the deep ditches along the side of the road. The ditches aren't everywhere (and along this portion they're only about 2 feet deep while near my home they're 3-4 feet, and I've seen 5 feet deep ditches!), thank goodness, but this is an image of a fear of mine- either me going off the edge, or knocking off a pedestrian into the dangerous edges. I'm not sure how they got the loaded truck out, but when we came back by it was gone.


I wanted to also include some cool sights I've seen. This is a Bible school overlooking the Nile. I like that they've constructed parts of it in the traditional African style. Pretty campus and views.


Above and below: Nakumat is a Kenyan based company that you might compare to Walmart in the USA. This is one of a few groceries/clothing/furniture stores we have here. With this being the newest it is by far the nicest. Prices here vary- some are higher and some lower than other grocery stores. I like the clean, spacious, well lit aisles.

Teresa the artist

Teresa is one of our VIA serving as one of our 2 art teachers at HIS. I loved this drawing she was making for her parents of a Pokot woman.

How people handle car accidents here

Jenna (VIA) and I pulled into a parking spot and heard a loud bang. Looking up across the road, there was a car that had hit into a cement wall, completely taking out a telephone pole in the process. If you look you can see the pole is stuck between the car and the wall.
I wasn't sure what was more entertaining (I'm not being inconsiderate- the people got out and walked away so there were no injuries). It was hard to decide between watching the crowd that gathered who all joined together rocking the car up and down and trying to rock it up and off the stump of the pole, and watching if/when the pole would fall onto the car. The falling never happened, and after getting quite a bit of exercise rocking the car as they tried to push it off the snapped off bottom portion of the pole... The whole thing was, as I said, quite entertaining. The best part was to see them (after several unsuccessful tries) start the damaged car and drive it off. No reporting the accident. No police involved. No letting the phone company know they had wires now hanging 2 feet off the ground in the way of traffic, and a pole precariously hanging over the roadway. They just drove off and left. And this is TYPICAL here.
And if there had been injuries, the sad thing to report is that the crowd of observers would not have rushed forward to "help". Instead they would have rushed forward to steal and loot from the people, stealing everything they could (and many accident victims can't be identified because of looters!). It is a sad truth, but that is really typical. Pray people who do those types of things will change; that they will be changed by the transforming love and compassion of Christ.

80's Birthday Celebration

At the end of March, friends Shelah and Jade invited us to Jade's 40th birthday party. The 80's theme was highly entertaining. We all either had: pegged jeans, BIG hair, lots of makeup, canvas tennis shoes, funny 80's jewelry, ripped jeans, ripped shirts, collars lifted up, tights, etc. Enjoy the pics of us all below as we were admiring each other's costumes.


Kristi happened to turn and 2 palm trees were reflected in her glasses. We got a kick out of it and this is the result. :)


Shelah, Lino, Jade, Solomon and me at the party (above). Lino is Shelah and Jade's "son" under a legal guardianship that you may remember we termed as his adoption day. Solomon and Lino are my students and they sure enjoyed the outfits us adults all wore (they were too chicken to dress up!).


Above: Some of Shelah and Jade's missionary/local friends at the party. I'm really glad the 80's styles are generally out of date- although I'll tell you right now, they're coming into style here in Uganda. I wonder if I'll be surprised by USA styles when I'm there for my furlough (I might be frightened, not just surprised!).

Swim Day With the Youth

Arriving just as it looked like it might rain, but turning into quite a warm and sunny day... we all went to Speke Resort this past weekend. Not all things are impoverished or possibly unfinished (like the roads) here. This is a posh resort with a nearly-olympic size pool and some very nice amenities.


Below, some of the kids who came swimming. We didn't have a large crowd, and I didn't actually take many photos (too busy relaxing and enjoying the kids)... but I had to document the day at least with one photo!

The Younger Kid's Missions Trip

In no particular order below, I've included some photos from our recent second Missions Trip, but this time with the 7th through 9th graders (the first was the 10th-12th grades). For two days, we painted, "sand bagged", taught Vacation Bible School lessons (here they call it Holiday Bible Club), and got to know the children and adults there.
It is a nearby (to Heritage and Kampala) mission-run elementary school with more than 260 students from nursery at 3 years old through 16 year olds in grade 6. Why such old students in this elementary (or any) school? Because sometimes school fees or family finance/health hinder students to continue their educations and they need to stay out of school for a few years at a time. Until students pass a grade 6 "leaving" exam, they cannot continue, no matter their age, into secondary school.
All of our kids in grades 7-9 went, plus on that Friday, we were joined by a few of my older students (Lubega, Solomon, Logan and Bertha) and they contributed quite a lot. Thank you to all my students and to the adults who joined us in this venture of ministry and outreach.


Donatella (Ugandan/Italian) and Bec (Australian) sandbagging. It is what is sounds like- bagging sand to reinforce a foundation where rain water would run too close to the wall.


All of us joined in at various capacities as we painted a bathrooms building, the kitchen, and the primary/nursery building "spiffing" up the property nicely.


Towards the end of Friday, a hot and sunny day, the kids had to get cleaned up to head back to school. A water fight at the well on the school property took place, so they went back paint-free, but pretty wet (and much cooler!).


Leo (Congolese/Greek) and Marc (Indian/Canadian) took a minute to run around the property having fun in one of the wheelbarrows.


Each day at the school, the children receive a bowl of porridge (watery oatmeal with a bit of sweet flavor) for a mid-morning break, and a lunch of typical African fare including beans, rice and cooked bananas.


Most of our group got to pose for us first thing Friday. Absent are me (I was taking photos), Miss Holly and the Stevenson's, the ones who have helped me coordinate both our mission trips this semester.


Typical Ugandan classrooms are often overcrowded and with few supplies. This one is extra crowded because kids had gathered from several classes to hear the Bible lessons.


Colleen and three girls (Kayla, Kezza and Erica) take a break.


Painting the kitchen; this building also received a door and windows to close the building properly, as a result of our donated funds from HIS and the kids who participated.


The children colored sheets after the Bible lesson was taught each day. One story was Jonah and the Whale and the other was the Prodigal Son. We left several day's worth of Bible stories/coloring sheets with the school, that they can use them at other times. We also left crayons, other Bible lesson supplies, and numerous donated items.


Bec has a great ability to connect with children. Within 5 minutes of arriving, she had a whole fan club following her around, playing with her, wanting to hold her hand. Sweet.

Except at HIS, I've not seen a playground at a school here. This one had tire swings, ropes to climb, and other items. The kids really enjoy their time in the play area.

Peter's family

A few weeks back I took a picture of Peter (my day guard) in his curtain-suit, and he said his wife and daughters also had dresses from the material. They are usually in the village keeping the family farm going, while Peter lives in Kampala and sends money home. He has 8 children, plus one in Heaven. Recently, Peter's wife and two youngest daughters came to town for treatment of the youngest daughter's broken leg (her name is Mindy). I don't understand the medical treatment being given to Mindy. Her leg was broken when she fell in the mud, and there is a large (like an extra knee!) knot on her shin, but no cast... it makes no sense what the doctors are doing. Anyway, she is not limping around, and seems to not be in pain. But Peter wanted me to get a photo of them all in their curtain-fabric outfits. They are a sweet family. Oh, and FYI the rest of the kids are in school. Here in Uganda, nearly all schools are boarding schools, and most families send their children away for about 2/3 of the year. I don't know if I could ever do that, but it is pretty much the standard here. And school fees (ALL school is paid by the family, NOT by the government here) range from thousands of dollars per semester to only about $100/semester. Of course, the cheaper the school, usually the lower standards of education. But at least they're in school learning something, I guess.

The 2010 International Dinner

Last Night we had our annual International Dinner, where every HIS family brings food from their own country. We dress to suit our country's attire and there are performances and great fellowship. It has ended up being the favorite fellowship of the year for most if not all our HIS families; a real highlight. I wish you could have been there!


The USA table had hamburgers, hot dogs and lots of cookies and snacks. They even found a man to make cotton candy!


This photo and the one below were taken by my friend Holly (our Bible teacher). In the above photo I am with Meki, from Kenya (in grade 10). Yes, I wore flags in my hair. Below, several of our secondary students hanging out.




Meki, Brent and Teresa, our representative Kenyans for the evening.


We have a lot of Eritrean people at HIS this year. They're all fabulous and beautiful, and I loved how they dressed for the dinner.


Keeley and her son Joseph plus Lisa and me~ I'm so thankful for them!


Bhavik and his parents plus Kahan dressed so well for the dinner!

Celebrating Kahan's Birthday!

I think you may know that when students have their birthdays, they wear the "lovely" birthday hat. Kahan's birthday was Thursday, and since Tiya never lets me post (or take) her photos... this photo was blog-worthy!
The shiny skin was not such poor lighting as the silly stickers they had on their faces...
Pictured from left are Lydia, Bertha, Kahan, Star and Tiya.

Pizza Celebration

I wasn't going to post this, but the smile on Jonah is just too cute. This is Jonah who is celebrating with his team partner, Logan, when they won the plastics recycling contest back in December. We didn't get to celebrate with the prize pizza until mid-February. By the time we could count all the recyling points and determine the winners, Jonah and his family had gone to the USA for Christmas and a holiday/vacation. So we waited till they came back. As you can see, he was very excited!

Rainy Day Youth Group

This past youth group was run by seniors Bertha and Kahan, who volunteered to help out. Bertha gave a devotional and they both helped with games, from launching tennis balls to dressing up in TP wedding outfits.




So we have used the water balloon launcher for balloons, ahem- frogs-, and now for tennis balls. It actually works pretty well with the balls, and the kids really enjoy not only shooting but also trying to catch them (in buckets- well, unless you are Lino, who used his bare hands!). The best part to me (besides having fun shooting them) is that we don't have to hunt the city for more balloons, since those are kind of extinct in Uganda.

Vote For Pedro- crack me up!!!

Back for the HIS Rain Festival in the fall, Brent dressed as Napoleon Dynamite. Recently, he gave the shirt to Peter, my guard. Peter loved getting a new shirt, but especially loved finding out that Pedro in Spanish is Peter. He takes special pride in his shirt. And once in a while we tell him we'd vote for him. He walks off giggling and saying to himself, "another vote for me... hee hee!". I love having him as my guard. Sweet.

Rollerblading Boda guys...

Yep, so besides generally being unsafe because boda drivers drive crazy and cause a lot of traffic problems, let's add a guy hanging on using roller blades! Well, dumb decision, but good cultural shot for me.

Other Ugandan Wildlife

There are many creepy crawlies in Africa, but thankfully I hardly see any, especially compared to the -ugh- countless creepy crawlies in South America. Anyway, the first of these 2 pics below is of Logan ACTING as if he is going to eat a grasshopper- a common "delicacy" here but not this type.
The other is not so harmless. It is about a centimeter long and you do not want to touch it or have it touch you (while sleeping, falling on you, or crawling on your clothes and then on you...). It is called a Nairobi Eye (no idea why) but if you try to brush it off you will get acid on you which will burn with blisters and all. Thankfully I've never touched one, but this one was in my bathroom on vacation at Christmas.




FYI you never need to play with caterpillars here in Uganda like we might have as kids in the USA. I remember "woolly worms" that would curl up into a ball as soon as you touch it... but all the caterpillars here are poisonous. They look cute and lightly hairy, but those hairs carry their poison.
One of these days I will remember to take a photo of all the flying ants that come in a swarm from time to time. They just came on Saturday morning, kind of freaked out my friend Janie who was visiting, since there were hundreds of these ants crawling into her room around the screen frames and under the door. Africans gather these ants to fry and eat, but I have never done this myself. I'm just not sure I could get past the crunch and squish as you bite down.