Blogs from Kampala, Central Region, Uganda, Africa - page 19

We landed last night with no problems, except getting our bags back from Nairobi. Prossy and Jordan and Jackson picked us up, loaded the car, and we drove the long journey back to Kampala. Everyone else was asleep, so we were as quiet as we could be and fell asleep to the sound of barking dogs. There were 3 other girls in our room, who we met this morning, and then met the rest of the team/family. This morning, probably around 4 or 5, a dog started barking, and I thought it was some crazy alarm clock belonging to one of my roommates. Then about 16 more dogs joined in and it sounded like they were running somewhere. After a breakfast of cereal and fruit, we loaded into a taxi, 11 of us and the driver, ... read more

Oliyotia! It has been quite a tumultuous past few days with a few unexpected twists, turns and adventures most of which have been quite memorable on a variety of levels. So, since I left off I was in Tororo (my stomping grounds of last July) where I spent only 2 nights but an action packed day zipping around the countryside clinging for life on the back of a pika pika (motorcycle) as I was getting chauffeured from village to village on a whirlwind meet and greet tour. This was definitely the Rock Star portion of my journey thus far. My friend and colleague from last summer has started a new organization over the past year and obviously misinterpreted my announcement that “I am coming to Tororo to visit friends” as “I have come to Tororo to ... read more

Well I am trudging around Uganda these days and the people have been very kind. Putting aside the tragic history during the dictatorship, Uganda is a very lush country. I flew into the country and arrived at the Entebbe Airport. Ever hear of the Raid on Entebbe? Yes, that’s the place! Once I got all my luggage I traveled to Kampala which is the capitol of Uganda. The drive from the airport was a bit scary, typical African driving straight down the middle of the road! So after residing in areas of Uganda for the past 2 weeks both city and small villages here are my impressions. People have a good grasp of the English language, which helps a lot. Signs and newspapers are too. People here seem very friendly, when the smile it lights up ... read more

As per standard operating procedure for bus companies in Kenya, I'm told to report to the office half an hour before departure. I'm staggered to arrive at this time and find that I am the last passenger to check in and, once my backpack is stowed and I'm on board, we depart 20 minutes early. Is this Africa? The bus or the driver or the road or possibly some combination of all three are not that great, and every bump sees me having to hang on to the armrest to avoid heading skyward. However the bus is also not even half full so I have a double seat to myself as well as sole control of the window for ventilation purposes. More unbelievably, we stop only at the border so there are none of the constant ... read more

“The problem we Africans have is that when we see you people with light skin, we admire you and we want to have what you have. We want to walk in your shoes - but we want them to be your shoes. We don't want to know where you got them so that we can work to get a pair of our own.” These were the words of a philosopher in the guise of a waiter at the cafe I went to this morning. I have so many thoughts about what he said, especially given that my day began with two well-fed, healthy-looking 16-ish-year-old girls asking me for 100 shillings when I stepped out of our gate. They pretty much crumbled when I asked them “why”. I think because the only reason they could have given ... read more