Life
in Uganda
We have been in Uganda for a little over 2
months. Quite frankly I was ready to
come, but had no concept of what it was like here. I am sure that some of you are very curious
about what our daily life is like, so, I will happily let you know.
First of all we are living in Kampala, Uganda. Kampala is the capital of Uganda so it is
much like any city in the world.
Building upon building, nice areas, bad areas, malls, restaurants,
hotels, large churches, and jams (short for traffic jams).
Upon arrival at the Entebee airport we walked down
to customs and then out to claim our baggage we walked through a hallway with
windows to our left. On the other side
of the windows were Ugandan faces staring at all the muzungus (white people)
coming into their city. I remember being
startled and a bit frightened at first and felt a little like an exhibit at the
zoo. However, God immediately quickened
my spirit and I thought, “Joanna you are here to love these people, not be frightened
by them.” My experiences from that
moment on have been positive.
Our day starts off with coffee and whatever
breakfast item we have available.
Sometimes it’s a boiled egg, a banana, or toast; just like we would do
at home in the US. We then have a 30
minute walk to work at the babies home.
On our walk we see many other walkers, bodas (motorcycle taxies),
bicycles, and lots of cars. The people
we see are usually very quiet until greeted then they respond in a very
friendly matter. Some people upon seeing
a new muzungu face will boldly state, “You are most welcome!” The first time I heard this I thought, “hmm,
I never said thank you…”, but what they are saying is “Welcome to Uganda!”
As we walk we hear many tooting horns from the cars
and bodas. Ugandans love to use their
vehicle horns. And mostly they use them
to say, “Move it!” Lol! Driving here is
very chaotic, but somehow it works for them.
I just sit back relax and tell myself the driver knows what he is
doing. I have only been genuinely scared
while driving two times in the two months we’ve been here. Also on our walk we see the men riding
bicycles with passengers on the back. I
believe the bicycles here are also used as a taxi service. When they are not
carrying passengers they are often seen using their bikes to haul goods such as
50 woven foot stools, or 10 4x6 boards, or whatever else you can imagine while
they walk and push their bicycle. The
boda drivers carry much different loads, such as a whole family unit sitting
behind them. “Are you serious?” you ask,
YES! We have seen as many as 5 people on
one boda. Crazy.
In the vehicles you often see large trucks carrying
50+ security guards to their posts in the mornings. In the car babies are carried on laps, unless
the family has enough money for a car seat, and while walking babies are
carried on the backs of their mothers. I
personally love seeing their little faces bobbing around behind their mother
and their little feet sticking out in front beside their mommy’s ribs. Young girls often carry their small siblings
this way too. Another thing you see
women and children carrying are things on their head. Yes, they still do this here in the city. Although, here in the city when you see them
carrying things on their heads it is mostly things they are trying to
sell. They carry bananas, roasted corn
on the cob, muffins, mangos, etc. There
are also ladies who work for the city and sweep the street with whisk
brooms. I hate sweeping the side walk
with a regular broom let alone bending over and sweeping a long street with a
short broom. I have the utmost respect
for the work these ladies do and try to say thank you every time I see them.
Well, this post is getting a little long so stay
tuned for more!
I pray you are all doing well.
Love, Joanna
