hey ya'll
looks like its time to go home. I leave on Tuesday December 15. Its going to be bitter/sweat leaving Uganda. I am going to miss so much about this place, but i get to go home to people i love. the time in uganda has been something i will never forget.
can't wait to see all your shining faces.
heres a little Ugandan flavor..
oh yeah happy birthday to me..
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
again it has been awhile but i thought i would give you a quick update. since last time i have seen more of the country and have learned lots. i was able to explore Sesse Island, trek through the Kapchorwa Mountains, and i spent a week with a family in Soroti. the course work is almost done and the the time here is coming to an end. I have about two weeks left and i know i am going to miss this place. the country does not get old it is still as beautiful as the first day and of course the people are as interesting as ever. please continue to pray that i take advantage of every last moment here and stay present with these people.
Sesse Island: i met this guy on the island he was from Uganda, but he has been working in Iraq for 2 year. did you know there are over 70,000 Uagndans working in Iraq for the US.
this is the beautiful family i stayed with in Soroti. Soroti is in north east Uganda near the Kenyan boarder. i spent 7 days living their life. working on the farm, collecting water, and taking care of the animals. with the British and colonization aside their lifestyle is so pure. the work and the community of the people in Soroti were unlike anything i have ever seen.
after the week spent in Soroti with the family we spent two nights near Sipi Falls in the Kapchorwa Mountains. after a day of hiking i went of to the top of a small peak near our resort to watch the colors of beautiful sunset, while i was up there i met a group of European geologists. as they were walking over towards me i looked back to see one of them banging rocks together, licking them and smelling them when i saw that i thought i was looking at my own father. while i was talking to them one of the exclaimed Uganda should be rich.. he said they have gold, silver, oil, and crystals the size of a human hand. Then what's the problem? i guess you can ask the Italian oil companies, the gold miners, and the silver miners for yourself.
Sesse Island: i met this guy on the island he was from Uganda, but he has been working in Iraq for 2 year. did you know there are over 70,000 Uagndans working in Iraq for the US.
this is the beautiful family i stayed with in Soroti. Soroti is in north east Uganda near the Kenyan boarder. i spent 7 days living their life. working on the farm, collecting water, and taking care of the animals. with the British and colonization aside their lifestyle is so pure. the work and the community of the people in Soroti were unlike anything i have ever seen.
after the week spent in Soroti with the family we spent two nights near Sipi Falls in the Kapchorwa Mountains. after a day of hiking i went of to the top of a small peak near our resort to watch the colors of beautiful sunset, while i was up there i met a group of European geologists. as they were walking over towards me i looked back to see one of them banging rocks together, licking them and smelling them when i saw that i thought i was looking at my own father. while i was talking to them one of the exclaimed Uganda should be rich.. he said they have gold, silver, oil, and crystals the size of a human hand. Then what's the problem? i guess you can ask the Italian oil companies, the gold miners, and the silver miners for yourself.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Africa?
Its been awhile since i have last communicated with you. so its going to be hard to catch you up on all that has happened. The time in Uganda so far has been very interesting. An experience i thought i would never have coming to Africa. I'm living with the top 5% of all the people in Uganda, the wealthiest and the smartest. The things i am doing would be what I consider touristy. I'm not complaining, but i just thought it would have been different. I am learning so much from the books that i'm reading and the people that i have conversations with. My mind is spinning with new knowledge and i have so many questions with no answers. But.....since last time.. this is what you missed. I went from studying in the classroom, to living with a family here in Uganda, to seeing the most beautiful sunrise, to facing two of my worst nightmares(trapped under water and falling), and to an awesome weekend spent with my friends from back home. .. oh yeah.. Happy 47th year of Independence Uganda.. Uganda celebrated its independence from Britain on Friday the 9th...
I love my brothers...every signal one of them..I got to spend two weeks with a family in Uganda. i experienced the every day tasks.. like eating sugar cane and burning trash. the weeks spent with the family was the most richest experience of my entire time here.
After the weeks spent with the families, they thought we needed a weekend away.. so we spent the weekend relaxing by Lake Victoria.. why not?
hers a glimpse of shear beauty.. one morning i woke up early to see something only few get to see.. a sunrise over Lake Victoria.
If you see TW wish him a happy birthday.. Happy Birthday T!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Riots!
On Thursday September 10, 2009 Riots broke out in the capital of Uganda, Kampala. The unrest within the country is due to a conflict between the Ugandan government and the King of Buganda. The King has planned to visit part of his kingdom on Saturday, but the government does not want him and are tying to make it impossible for him to do so. So the Buganda people are letting the government know they are unhappy by rioting and creating attention, and they are succeeding.
Last night the rioting reached Mukono where UCU is located. From the university you could hear gun shots and shouting.. But no one seems to be worried so that means neither do you.. i feel very safe but we are not allowed to leave the campus this weekend.
The rioting and violence should be resolved soon, but when the king comes to visit on Saturday the rioting is expected to be the worse yet..
be praying for peace to arrive quickly...
check out.. english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/09/200991134832623406.html and news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8249693.stm
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
About two weeks later...
I have been in africa for about two weeks now. I have been to Rwanda for 10 days and the rest of the time spent in Mukono and Kampala in Uganda.
when we first arrived in Uganda we were brought to the Uganda Christian University where i will be studying for the next 3 or so months. i am going to be studying East African Politics, History, and Literature i will also be taking a course called Health and Wholeness. But before the classes start me and the 44 other students from the US as well as 10 ugandan student took a trip to Rwanda.
The bus ride to Rwanda was about 15 hours on the worst roads you could imagine. Rwanda is the most beautiful country i have have ever seen. it was so consistently beautiful. the differences between Uganda and Rwanda were many.. the mountains, the houses, the cleanliness, the people. The week in Rwanda was the most intense weeks of my life.. it was emotionally draining and it made me think.. about God and myself and the world we live in.. first two days were spent in Kubugo, Rwanda and then we went to Kigali,Rwanda (the capital).
During the week it was mostly focused on the Genocide that took place in 1994. we heard from political authorities, testimonies from survivors, and visited genocide memorials. Memorials in Rwanda were a lot more "in your face" than anything you would see in the states..at the end of the week we got to visit types of progress like an Orphan village for genocide victims called HOpe village and a church village that consisted of workshops for genocide widows. so that part was encouraging.. the last two days of the trip were spent in Kabali, Uganda.. it was the most exotic place i have ever been We are on Bushara Island on Bunyoni Lake. it was so beautiful. so at the end of the week the group has become much closer, we were all tiered and emotionally drained , as well as some people had gotten sick.. yes including me.. but it was expected..
right now we are back on campus at UCU with 5,000 other students. the schedule is crazy and i have had classes the past two days.. it will take some time to get use to, but i don't have time because i will be moving out of the campus dormitories and into a families house the is in Mukono and i'll be living there for about 2 weeks.. i'll let you know how is goes..
here are some pictures...
this is in the dorm i'll be staying at.. Florence Hall..
this is part of UCU campus.. down near the basketball and volleyball courts..
on the way to Rwanda..
A guest house in Kigali, Rwanda we stayed there for 4 nights.. imagine overlooking the Kigali the most dangerous city in the world only 15 years ago.. and going to a memorial for the Rwandan Genocide and stepping out to the streets where it all took place..
quick story.. we were on the way to a village that was in the mountain region of Rwanda. the place where genocide widows are welcomed to live. there are thousands and thousands of genocide criminals and some of the punishment is to do work for the government like road work.. so while on our way to the village a loud bus full of college students became silent.. we begin to pass by all of these workers. and of course our bus got stuck so half of the bus had to get off,, and these man began to push the bus out of the loose dirt. it was quite ironic that we were being helped by the men that changed the lives of the women in the village we were going to visit..
on our way to Bushara Island on Bonyoni Lake ..
check out the scene.
Beautiful eh?
when we first arrived in Uganda we were brought to the Uganda Christian University where i will be studying for the next 3 or so months. i am going to be studying East African Politics, History, and Literature i will also be taking a course called Health and Wholeness. But before the classes start me and the 44 other students from the US as well as 10 ugandan student took a trip to Rwanda.
The bus ride to Rwanda was about 15 hours on the worst roads you could imagine. Rwanda is the most beautiful country i have have ever seen. it was so consistently beautiful. the differences between Uganda and Rwanda were many.. the mountains, the houses, the cleanliness, the people. The week in Rwanda was the most intense weeks of my life.. it was emotionally draining and it made me think.. about God and myself and the world we live in.. first two days were spent in Kubugo, Rwanda and then we went to Kigali,Rwanda (the capital).
During the week it was mostly focused on the Genocide that took place in 1994. we heard from political authorities, testimonies from survivors, and visited genocide memorials. Memorials in Rwanda were a lot more "in your face" than anything you would see in the states..at the end of the week we got to visit types of progress like an Orphan village for genocide victims called HOpe village and a church village that consisted of workshops for genocide widows. so that part was encouraging.. the last two days of the trip were spent in Kabali, Uganda.. it was the most exotic place i have ever been We are on Bushara Island on Bunyoni Lake. it was so beautiful. so at the end of the week the group has become much closer, we were all tiered and emotionally drained , as well as some people had gotten sick.. yes including me.. but it was expected..
right now we are back on campus at UCU with 5,000 other students. the schedule is crazy and i have had classes the past two days.. it will take some time to get use to, but i don't have time because i will be moving out of the campus dormitories and into a families house the is in Mukono and i'll be living there for about 2 weeks.. i'll let you know how is goes..
here are some pictures...
this is in the dorm i'll be staying at.. Florence Hall..
this is part of UCU campus.. down near the basketball and volleyball courts..
on the way to Rwanda..
A guest house in Kigali, Rwanda we stayed there for 4 nights.. imagine overlooking the Kigali the most dangerous city in the world only 15 years ago.. and going to a memorial for the Rwandan Genocide and stepping out to the streets where it all took place..
quick story.. we were on the way to a village that was in the mountain region of Rwanda. the place where genocide widows are welcomed to live. there are thousands and thousands of genocide criminals and some of the punishment is to do work for the government like road work.. so while on our way to the village a loud bus full of college students became silent.. we begin to pass by all of these workers. and of course our bus got stuck so half of the bus had to get off,, and these man began to push the bus out of the loose dirt. it was quite ironic that we were being helped by the men that changed the lives of the women in the village we were going to visit..
on our way to Bushara Island on Bonyoni Lake ..
check out the scene.
Beautiful eh?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
the time has come
It finally has arrived, for so long it seemed so far away.
On Monday Aug. 24 i leave for Uganda. i will be in Uganda for 4 months studying at Uganda Christian University and traveling around the country. i will be with 44 other students from around the US living and learning together. i am so excited to get there, the wait has been too long.
let start this off right..
On Monday Aug. 24 i leave for Uganda. i will be in Uganda for 4 months studying at Uganda Christian University and traveling around the country. i will be with 44 other students from around the US living and learning together. i am so excited to get there, the wait has been too long.
let start this off right..
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