Back in Kampala!

Greetings loved ones (from Audrey again)! We are happy and healthy here in Kampala for our second visit. We are now at the St. Augustine’s Institute, where they tell us everyone thinks we are wonderful. Since we last blogged, we have visited Gulu in Northern Uganda, Kumi in the northeast, and Tororo on the border with Kenya. Then yesterday we drove in from Tororo.

We saw a lot of petroleum trucks on the highway from Kenya, where Uganda gets all its fuel – gas prices here are very high, around $2/litre, and the normal supply lines have been disrupted, so they are having to truck in a lot more. So we are experiencing some effects of the protests in Kenya next door.

One of the beautiful moments yesterday was seeing the Nile River, most of us for the first time. We watched a swimmer go over Bujagali Falls in just swim trunks; investors are hoping to dam the Falls for hydroelectric power, so our view of it may be even more precious. Then we saw the point that used to be Ripon Falls, now dammed over, which is the source of Nile.

We have met amazing people every day we have been here, and I will let someone else share a bit about some of those experiences….

From Catherine – I have found the people of Uganda to be extremely friendly. From the people we passed on the street, to the members of the organizations we have visited everyone has a similiar, friendly manner. We have been so well hosted and welcomed in every place we have been. I was especially moved by the welcome we received from the Acholi people in the IDP camp in Gulu. They performed traditional dance rituals for us which included drumming, percussion, dancing and ritual movements. It has been difficult to teach and practice these rituals in the camps and they were in danger of being lost. It was a precious gift to be able to witness these dances which were practiced and performed in honour of our coming.

From Christine – Yesterday, while in Tororo, we visted with a village of people suffering from HIV. The effects of this disease are devastating because it impacts all areas of their life: friendships are lost, family keeps their distance (some family members even turn the person’s children against them), hospitals are difficult to come by and are not even the most welcoming or caring place if they make it there,  medicine is expensive and if they choose to medicate they, at some point, find themselves in the midst of poverty, without the strength to do the necessary daily chores of gathering water and food, and waiting to die. We witnessed one woman, Scovia, waiting for God to take her home. However, even in the midst of death, upon seeing visitors with so much life and love (that would be us) she found a smile that brightened the room- and fortunately, her family was there waiting with her. Being with Scovia was a difficult experience that most of us are still processing. However, I found, for myself, that it is actually easier for me to see people who are sick and impoverished face to face, rather than over a computer screen in all the mass emails that are sent. Somehow, being there in person, being able to shake their hands, look in their eyes, give them hugs, eases the pain I usually experience from afar.