Hey everyone! Well, I'm sure that some of you received emails from your loved ones as we headed into Kampala yesterday and were able to check email and otherwise enjo the benefits of electricity and city life. If you did not receive an email - don't sweat it. There were only so many chairs, and the internet was still running through a modem made of cold molasses.
Kampala was truly an eye opener for us. One hour away and there is actually a city. Unfortunately, no pictures at the moment as no one knows Im doing an update, but it was quite the experience! Boda's (little 50cc scooters that look like bicycles) zipped around everywhere, taking the sidewalk when traffic was bad and clipping pedestrians along the way. Pretty much every car on the road and truck seem to run on diesel, and there is no such thing as aircare. Descend a hill in the city and you literally can barely make out the bottom due to the smog! Hmm, but smog implies pollution that has built over time. While that is true here, the smog I talk about now is fresh diesel fumes pouring jet black from each tailpipe in the city. To contrast this you will every now and again see a diplomat in his/her brand new Mercedes that runs on Petrol. While these are relatively clean, the only other petrol-based vehicles are the Bodas, which are ill-repaired two-stroke engines, so just as bad as the diesels.
Telephone poles are in the middle of intersections. Intersections themselves do not have a right of way, except for the rule that if you're bigger, you win. We drove through the slums which are descended into the pits of the city, and a few minutes later crested the hills of the diplomats and ebassies. You can't create a larger contrast.
Along the way we decided to make a stop into the city's riches hotel. It was like a little slice of Hawaii in the centre of the city, with bright blue pools to swim in, faux-red rock 'cliffs', marble walkways outside of the building. A few of us nearly cried on the tour - take a look around and they have carefully surrounded the hotel with large banks and wealthy industry. Behind these buildings lie the rest of Kampala. And that's where the contrast comes in.
We made our first stop, as I said, in the mall where the internet was available. Some bought books, some bought food (or, "food", as this was mainly Pringles chips), and most snacked on Ugandan pizza. Shortly after the Ugandan pizza is when this poster's stomach started doing flip-flops, but thankfully everyone else was just fine with the food. I have a rather sensitive stomach anyway!
From there we stopped at the craft fair, where some of us were able to try on our Bartering-hats and experience 300% markup. Some great deals were had like..... ahh, but you'll have to wait and see.
The tour followed, again followed by a meal at a large Anglican centre and group home intended as a hotel of sorts. French fries were consumed, pop was chugged, and the taste of home was great. An hour of driving through diesel smoke and enjoying traffic jams later, we arrived home.
Today was our day to play with the children. The kids light up at the amount of attention that they receive from us and it really is our honour to show it to them. This is me than playing with orphans - this is changing lives!
Further updates to come. We are heading to our second and final service of African Church. Most of us have been initiated in the whole 'move your body to music' concept of dancing. While initially reserved, I now wonder how church can be any other way. Praise God with everything you have and the smile never leaves your face!
As I finish, a special note that Shawn Smith was able to join us today and has arrived safely at the site. Some people are outside enjoying a campfire right now of hardwood that burns for hours and rarely smokes. We also look forward to Wendy being able to join us tomorrow an assist with the medical clinic. Speaking of which, today was the first day of the clinic - please pray for the kids thatour arrival and the onset of pokings with needles is not seen as punishment.
Take care everyone.
Kampala was truly an eye opener for us. One hour away and there is actually a city. Unfortunately, no pictures at the moment as no one knows Im doing an update, but it was quite the experience! Boda's (little 50cc scooters that look like bicycles) zipped around everywhere, taking the sidewalk when traffic was bad and clipping pedestrians along the way. Pretty much every car on the road and truck seem to run on diesel, and there is no such thing as aircare. Descend a hill in the city and you literally can barely make out the bottom due to the smog! Hmm, but smog implies pollution that has built over time. While that is true here, the smog I talk about now is fresh diesel fumes pouring jet black from each tailpipe in the city. To contrast this you will every now and again see a diplomat in his/her brand new Mercedes that runs on Petrol. While these are relatively clean, the only other petrol-based vehicles are the Bodas, which are ill-repaired two-stroke engines, so just as bad as the diesels.
Telephone poles are in the middle of intersections. Intersections themselves do not have a right of way, except for the rule that if you're bigger, you win. We drove through the slums which are descended into the pits of the city, and a few minutes later crested the hills of the diplomats and ebassies. You can't create a larger contrast.
Along the way we decided to make a stop into the city's riches hotel. It was like a little slice of Hawaii in the centre of the city, with bright blue pools to swim in, faux-red rock 'cliffs', marble walkways outside of the building. A few of us nearly cried on the tour - take a look around and they have carefully surrounded the hotel with large banks and wealthy industry. Behind these buildings lie the rest of Kampala. And that's where the contrast comes in.
We made our first stop, as I said, in the mall where the internet was available. Some bought books, some bought food (or, "food", as this was mainly Pringles chips), and most snacked on Ugandan pizza. Shortly after the Ugandan pizza is when this poster's stomach started doing flip-flops, but thankfully everyone else was just fine with the food. I have a rather sensitive stomach anyway!
From there we stopped at the craft fair, where some of us were able to try on our Bartering-hats and experience 300% markup. Some great deals were had like..... ahh, but you'll have to wait and see.
The tour followed, again followed by a meal at a large Anglican centre and group home intended as a hotel of sorts. French fries were consumed, pop was chugged, and the taste of home was great. An hour of driving through diesel smoke and enjoying traffic jams later, we arrived home.
Today was our day to play with the children. The kids light up at the amount of attention that they receive from us and it really is our honour to show it to them. This is me than playing with orphans - this is changing lives!
Further updates to come. We are heading to our second and final service of African Church. Most of us have been initiated in the whole 'move your body to music' concept of dancing. While initially reserved, I now wonder how church can be any other way. Praise God with everything you have and the smile never leaves your face!
As I finish, a special note that Shawn Smith was able to join us today and has arrived safely at the site. Some people are outside enjoying a campfire right now of hardwood that burns for hours and rarely smokes. We also look forward to Wendy being able to join us tomorrow an assist with the medical clinic. Speaking of which, today was the first day of the clinic - please pray for the kids thatour arrival and the onset of pokings with needles is not seen as punishment.
Take care everyone.
can't wait to see you guys pull off the full body dancing at PPAC... finally scotty will have some company.
Missing you guys an awful lot...
Good luck with the clinic in the next few days.