Back in the States

Africa is a country which is best experienced with all five of our senses. Immediately upon landing in the country you are bombarded by the differences. The many sights, smells, sounds, tastes and feelings of Uganda were overwhelming to our systems. Never mind the fact that we had been in the air for 17 1/2 hours and in several different airports another 6 1/2 hours waiting for those flights.

You see the differences in just about everything around you; the color of skin, the crowdedness,

the abject poverty,

bicycles used not for exercise but as a primary means of transportation or transport of goods to
market or home again; the beautiful flowers juxtaposed against the mud and thatch roof huts or corrugated tin homes,

the traffic which seems to come at you from every direction with no rules whatsoever; or military with guns on almost every street corner.
Large, modern buildings were placed amidst the poverty of very small shops which doubled as their homes. Even after two weeks we were not surprised to see something completely new to us.

Over the next few days I will be sharing with you some of my thoughts on our trip to Uganda. The exercise of processing it all will, I'm sure, go on for months but I didn't want to wait to begin putting it down in black and white. I can tell you that the experience has changed me. Just how much I am changed remains to be seen. I hope never to go back to the whine-y, selfish, self-absorbed person I was. I hope to continue along the path I've started to make at least a small difference in the lives of the people I encounter along the way.

Thanks for stopping by! More to come!!