So its been about a month now

I have been here in Mbale a grand total of one month and, let me just say, I love it here. Sure, there are tough times and moments where I wonder if this is where I should be. But over all I really enjoy it here. This can be tough and can really stretch me as a person but I know its right. I know I should be here.  But enough about me. You want to hear about Uganda. So here are some of the things that have happened since we’ve been together last. (Although I am the main character in most of these stories so I’m afraid it’s still about me).

                First things first, I pulled a no-hander all the way from home to work on the Boda… Oh yeah (If your confused, see blog number 3 titled I’ve Been Here Two Days And…

                Ok, story number (the thing about the Boda was just a little factoid, not a story), have I told you about Zed? Well one morning, he blinking nicked my Chapatti!!! That’s right. He stole what was rightfully mine! And I was looking forward to that Chapatti. Zed is a cat, by the way. He lives with us at the house where I’m staying and he enjoys chapattis very much. I think I mentioned about chapattis before. Well if not, just know they are a heavenly nutriment (food). Anyways, this cat Zed (why? Zed… I’ll wait for a few seconds for you to get that one……….. And now to explain to the Americans. In Britain, and other places around the world, the letter z is pronounced zed. This was, apparently, why zed got its name, because when you ask why, the answer is zed. X, why, Zed. See? Anyways.) This cat is a tough cat. Not unlike one of the streetwise cats you find in classic Disney movies. And he is also a cool cat, but not the day he nicked my chapatti. What happened was, me and Dave were supposed to share the last chapatti. Zed, however, wanted his piece of the pie and the trouble with cats is they have cat-like reflexes (logically). So, as Dave put my half of the chapatti down, Zed jumped up and blinking took my piece. (Sorry, I use the word blinking a lot). And he didn’t even finish it. He just left a part of it on the floor to taunt me. Well I was furious. No, actually I wasn’t. We had a good laugh over it. Zed gets into a lot of mischief when it comes to breakfast time and he is always trying to outsmart us humans to get food. I must say though that, after that day, I have been on top alert and he hasn’t been able to outsmart me. Even when he sneaks out from under the couch to try and take us by surprise (true story).

                Story number two. (Heads up, this is a long one). The Rain. Oh man. So I think I already told you about the rain over here and how it rains most days. Well two days ago it definitely graced us with its presence again. I was coaching football with one of the schools that I am working with and the field was about a 20 minute walk from the school (there isn’t much open land here so we h to travel pretty far). Anyways, this is the day and the hour in which it decides to chuck it down. Typical. So I’m coaching the football and the clouds begin to roll in. We all saw it. I was praying “don’t let it rain during practice.” You know what I should have prayed? “Don’t let it rain till I get back to where I work.” We ended practice and a drop landed on my head. We have to move. So we start walking and it increases slightly but not enough to affect our progress. There is one part of the journey where there are no houses and we have to walk through the fields. Luckily for us, (luckily being in the relative sense of the word) the heavens open up right before we hit that point. So we raced towards the last house that was there. This house was under construction (but luckily, again being relative, the roof was fully completed) and the guys building it let us stay there. They were amused to see a Mzungu (white person) running to escape the rain. It was kinda fun waiting there because there were wooden poles that ran across to allow planks to be elevated so the men could work on painting the ceiling. It was fun because we had to navigate our way around.

                So there we are, looking out at the rain, wondering when it’ll stop. I’m worrying about getting back and if people would have left and a bunch of other petty thoughts. Then, as I looked out, it was as if God just said, “Quit worrying and enjoy the view.” And he had good reason to say that. It was amazing! As soon as I looked past the worries of the rain I saw how incredible it was. The mountain was in the distance, with the clouds surrounding it, and between it and us were miles of greenery, trees, and a couple mud houses here and there. There was also a small pile of rocks right in front of the house due to the construction. And the rain only made this picture more incredible. I can picture it now. It was amazing. So I stopped worrying and starting enjoying the moment. It was magnificent. Simple, yet beautiful. So the rain finally quieted down and we headed back; it was still raining, just softer. The walk back was also fun because the path was muddy in places and it was like a puzzle, trying to figure out where to go. Also, there was a river of rain water running down the path (this path, mind you, is about two feet wide, without the river) so we had to navigate around it. The whole experience was amazing. And completely worth getting a little wet. (Here comes the philosophical part) I think we as humans are afraid of getting a little wet from the rain, and it’s because of that, that we never fully realize the amazingness of what’s around. The rain casts a different light on everything that’s around and, in order to see that, we need to quit worrying, and be ready to go out and see that for ourselves. (Sorry but that’s really what I felt as I reflected on that experience so I decided to put it in there).

                And lastly, a little anecdote. This is a true story. My friends friend had a nighttime security guard who came up to him one morning after work and told him that he had a dream last night telling him that harm would come to the family…

                … Ironic seen as the one man who was supposed to be protecting the family during the night was asleep during the night…

Ok so I have more stories but it would get quite long if I shared them all so I decided to just try and pick out the best. I hope you enjoyed them. I will see you again soon. Au revoir  

P.S I just want to give a second shout out to my now eleven fans. I see you.

Uganda. The Beautiful Paradox

Sorry this took so long. I wrote it last thursday but we didn't have internet for a while. Anyways, here it is.

Again I sit, writing my blog during a power cut. Because it is past sundown, the only light is the one from my computer screen. I’m afraid that if you were hoping for a comical uplift from this particular post then you are out of luck. This post is quite a bit more serious than the last. This post looks at Uganda through a different lens. A lens that shows the paradoxical nature of this country. Once I came here I could not help but realize the serious cry of this country. Amongst its beauty there is a layer of sorrow and a call for help. Like many African nations this country holds the potential for greatness and the ability to thrive. This potential, however, is hidden by the reality of life here. I give you, The Beautiful Paradox.

            When I first arrived in Uganda I was struck by this countries beauty. There is greenery everywhere and a great variety of plants can, and do, grow here. In Beersheba, we grow mangoes (delicious), papaya, peppers, bananas, cassava, oranges, beans, onions, staple crops, and watermelon and pineapples have grown in the past. Uganda also has a lot of rainfall every year, causing the ground to be very fertile and the ability to grow your own food is ever present. There is rarely a shortage of food and one can generally always feel full at the end of a meal. Sounds great, doesn’t it? The land flowing with milk and honey. What more would someone want. How about the ability to drink water without having to boil it first? Or maybe being able to swim in Lake Victoria without having to take tablets to avoid catching a nasty parasite. Behind the beauty of this country is a fact that roughly 1 in 20 people here have HIV; a virus that has already claimed the lives of over 25 million people worldwide. (I must add, however, that Uganda has done a great deal to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in its country and props must be given for that. Still, there is always room for progress.) Feeling full at the end of a meal is great, but what if that full feeling is because the majority of your meal is carbohydrates and, if you were to bust out the food pyramid, you’d realize that you don’t ever really have a well-rounded meal. The worst part about that is it isn’t because it’s impossible to acquire those much needed foods. You just need a little help; help from the global community. Rain is also a wonderful thing, but not when it turns into overdrive. I have personally met a man whose garden has been ruined due to too much rain at the wrong time. But has he given up? No, he is replanting in a different place and trying again. Perseverance.

            I want to take this time now to add probably the single most important thing I have to say. What I stated earlier does not, in any way, make us, as westerners, better than someone from Uganda and what we have in the west is not necessarily better than in Uganda. We have the ability to aid a country full of potential, but we must not come in and attempt to westernize it. We must first learn from this country. We must learn because it is only after we have learned that we can help. There are many lessons here that can be learned and many things that can teach us to grow as people. If we come in just to aid and not to be aided then we will be destroying the opportunity that we have to become better. Every country around the world has something to give. If this can be utilized then we, as a world, can grow, and every culture will still be preserved. As they rightfully should.

I’ve only been here a week and a half and I know that, the longer I stay, the more I will learn about this country and the people here. Thank you very much. I will see you later.

P.S Ok so because this post was quite a serious one you can expect, perhaps, a more comical write up subsequent to this one. (I didn't just come up with that word off the top of my head; I used the thesaurus that comes with Microsoft… sorry)

I've only been here for two days and.....

So here I am. Mbale, Uganda. As I am writing this it is the end of my second full day in Mbale. I arrived here on Tuesday but I was picked up and went to Cherish Uganda where I slept and was then picked up and taken to Mbale (this was the case because Cherish was closer to the airport and I arrived late tuesday night). So far I really enjoy it here. It was a little overwhelming at first because it was a newe place and it can still feel daunting but I definately feel a lot more comfortable. I will be working at Beersheeba (Disclaimer: Beersheeba is the project where Oasis works. It is the place of the offices and where a lot of stuff "goes down" i.e happens. The words Beersheeba (which comes from 1 Kings 19 v1-19), and project mean the same thing and will be used interchangably.) I will be working mainly with football (for you americans that is soccer... not american footbal). but I also have other jobs and things that i will do. But enough of the boring stuff.
I have been here two days and already have a number of stories. First off, there is a blinking annoying cockoral (or however you spell it) that wakes me up at about 6:45 every morning. I need to wake up about then anyways but the sound of one of those beeping aarm clocks that progressively get louder would be nicer. Annoying yes, but not as much. And yeah, life in Uganda starts early. Also, the main way of transport here is the motorbike, known as Boda Boda's or Pickey's (again, interchangeable). This seems like no big deal until you are holding on to a small metal bar behind you for dear life as you zoom across these dirt, and mind I say EXTREMELY bumpy, roads, hoping that you make it to your destination. It actually wasn't that bad for me because the driver was apparently going slow. Some go much faster. What is really fun though is that the rain can collect in parts and some places can be muddy to the point where you kinda feel yourself sliding out as you drive across. Its all good fun though.
Powercuts are also kind of common here. Commen being about once every two days (im told) and I am currently writing this during one which means that my scream is extremely bright and i can't really see anything else for about a minute after i look away. What was fun though was that I played a good game of chess against Dave, a fellow white peson who works with Oasis, via candle light. He was the blck pieces and it was hard for him to see some of them which gave me an advantage. There is also another boy who lives here who plays with us. It is all very fun. Second Disclaimer: These is really no racism here, but Ugandans do tell it how it is. For example. The term Mzungu means white person, or rich person, but it is not derogatory. It is just fact. So if I say the dave is a fellow white person there is nothing in that statement, only that it is true. So that is pretty much it for today folks. There will, undoubtedly, be more stories to come. I will most likely be chopping and changing between serious and funny blogs and some may even be both. But here I will leave you with one last humorous story. On the way back from the project yesterday there was a herd of cows coming towards us. This herd were all in a groupwalking slowly, except for one... We looked and saw a cow running (some would say charging but that word is quite strong) right towards us with a man running behind it trying to control it. Mildly scary, you say, for a regular cow to be running at us. I agree. Even more scary when this cow has horns that are slightly shorter than the lengh of my forearm. But no worries, you just step to the side (rather quickly) and let the cow run on past. Everything worked out fine. Although I can't speak for the cow as I don't know what happened to him.
So although that story was mildly scary you do still have to laugh (you too mum) and move on. Because things are gonna happen whether your in LA, London, or Uganda and you have to roll with it. Plus you be careful, that definately helps. So goodbye, this time for real, as opposed to the last paragraph. Sorry this is so long. There was a lot to tell. Anyways, see you soon.

P.S Get ready for my next post Uganda: The Beautiful Paradox
But don't get ready quite yet cause it will be a few days.

Ok so heres the deal. The electricityis kinda sporadic here. They do what they call load shedding which is basically turning the power off to certain places cause there is too much. Anyways, that means the internet is down when the power is down and I can't post my blog. So this was supposed to go up on saturday morning but didn't.