Taste and Touch of Uganda

You feel the constant sticky heat and excessive humidity and wonder why the people of Uganda wander around in winter coats. You are pressed on every side by the wall of people in the city or the scurry of never-ending traffic mostly consisting of taxi vans overloaded with people or Bota Bota’s (motorcycles used as taxis) carrying two or three passengers along with their belongings. You were surprised as the sudden rains of rainy season drench you as you go about your day or the dusty roads that don’t seem to even acknowledge the rains. The many dirt roads that rattle your bones to your very core necessitate a visit to the chiropractor once you return home.

The native fruit trees were in abundance in Uganda but I was told by a native Ugandan that they didn’t know what to do with it all. It was not possible to use it or keep it from spoiling on a daily basis.

The picture below is a piece of jack fruit. It tasted like a cross between pineapple and something citrus. It was very good but sticky. You had to peel away the small fibrousy strands to get to the "meat" of the fruit. The outside of the fruit looked like a watermelon(about that size also) but with a prickly texture. Very odd looking and it grew on trees.

The delicious fruits we experienced were bananas, pineapple, mango, papaya, watermelon, oranges, lemons, limes and jack fruit. Also, in abundance, were avocado, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes (which, by the way, were white also), greens or several sorts and cabbage.


We had fish, fish and more fish, rice(the yellowish mound on the red platter), beans, posho, chapotis, and mandazi’s. Posho(bottom of picture on blue and pink plates) looked like a very thick mashed potatoes but tasted nothing like it. It was made from the cassava plant ground up into flour with water added. The Ugandans used it as a utensil to pick up other foods. Utensils are not always in abundance or even available on some of the Islands.








Chapotis reminded me of flour tortillas and mandazis were like a fried doughnut only not sweet. Unless, of course, you dipped them in sugar (made from sugar cane, another abundant crop) which we did!!

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The children carried around sugar cane as a snack (just chewed for the sweet juice – not swallowed). Tim (the missionary) stopped and bought us some from a street vendor on our way home one evening. Here we are all trying to look like the locals. HaHa I don't think we fooled anyone.

We especially enjoyed the sugar in our tea. Hot tea, that is. I don’t think I saw a piece of ice the entire time I was in Uganda. Tea is grown right there in Uganda. They do have British roots, you know!

Tea was served every afternoon with sugar and milk available and ground nuts(peanuts) to eat.

Don't ask me why I was so taken by this "can" of mixed fruit jam except that I've never seen jam in a can. It was really good though. I had it on bread or chapoti's most mornings for breakfast.

Thanks for stopping by! More to come!!

The Sounds of Uganda

You are assaulted in the city by a cacophony of sound. Horns are honking, people talking or shouting in any number of dialects from English to Swahili to Ugandan, children playing or crying, and music blaring from the many shops along the road.
Children were everywhere you looked. Over 50% of the Ugandan population is under the age of 16. Over 80% of the population is under the age of 30. Those are hard facts to get my mind around. Poverty and disease are truly wiping out generations or Ugandans.


They chased the van once we left the Kasubi school.


After arriving on Llolwe Island we thought we would take a walk out to a rock formation to have a bit of "team time". As you can see below, we were always surrounded. We never failed to draw a crowd everywhere we went.

Here in the States we are quick to respect the "personal space" of those around us. We can get really uncomfortable if someone enters our "personal space". Not so in Africa. They are a close people.

The shouts of “Muzungu” (which means “white person or whitie”) by the children as you pass never failed to bring a smile to my face. You see, the term is one of honor and the Ugandans consider it a blessing when “visitors” come to them.
They peeked in the windows where our tents were set up while on Llolwe Island.

Or, on the other extreme, you experience complete silence and the beauty of God’s creation on the islands in Lake Victoria. The waves lapping along the shores, breezes blowing through the trees, the beautifully colorful birds, the monkeys playing in the rocks or trees all spoke of God’s presence there. Rainbows greeted us one morning on Llolwe Island and another evening while on safari.

Whether experiencing the silent beauty of Africa or the constant chaos of the children crowding around, the diversity of sound that was Africa to us was beautiful.

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Smells of Uganda

Just as quickly, you are greeted by the smells of Uganda. The diesel fumes flooded our vans, raw sewage and trash piles ran down the ditches on either side of neighborhood streets,fish dry in nets to be sold for a daily salary, body odor from the constant crush of people(personal hygiene a constant battle with dirt floors in their homes and dirt roads slinging mud or dust depending on the season; and washing themselves

and their clothes in the polluted waters of Lake Victoria),

and foods cooking on almost every porch or at street vendors everywhere constantly bombarded systems.

Goats and chickens are left to roam at will in order to feed on whatever they could find which also meant they would leave their droppings at will also. The mixture of smells was completely overwhelming.

One smell, however, I didn’t miss from the US was cigarette smoke. The people of Uganda don’t smoke. Whether it is from lack of money to buy them or the desire to use all available space to grow foods to eat rather than grow tobacco, it was a welcome change.

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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!!

Overwhelmed

"Overwhelmed" is the word which frequently comes to mind as I prepare for this Ugandan adventure. I'm not at all nervous or apprehensive about the trip itself. I'm overwhelmed with the generosity of God's provision through our friends from across the years of our lives. I am overwhelmed with the burden of how I am going to be a blessing to these Ugandan people. I am overwhelmed by the privilege of being used by our wonderful God to be His arms and legs, His hands and feet, His eyes and ears. I am overwhelmingly humbled by His call.

I feel like a kid at Christmas. I am about to burst with excitement. I am already nearly completely packed and let me tell you that NEVER happens with me. I'm the one usually scrambling around throwing things in the suitcase the morning we leave. I have all 60 tote bags(see last post) completed and ready to be packed tomorrow night with all the other gifts we are taking with us. It just can't get here soon enough.

I guess you could say I'm overwhelmed with excitement!

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Making Gifts

We leave for Uganda in 12 days. We are so excited we can hardly function. It's a good thing we have about finished up all of our preparations!

One of the things we know we will be doing while there is making home visits on behalf of the TAPP centers in Kampala. TAPP stands for Tumaimi (Ugandan for hope) AIDs Prevention Program. These centers reach out to those who are suffering with the HIV/Aids Virus. We will be taking toiletry items along with us as gifts for these home visits. These items were placed in gallon size ziploc bags last time the group from our church went. So, being a quilter, I decided to use up some of my stash to make tote bags to gift the items in. Also, in my stash are several panels from Block Party Studios that contain scriptures and phrases of scriptures from Psalms called Comfort of Psalms. I sewed one of these saying on the front of each tote bag.

I am pleased with the way they turned out(not the photography though) and am excited to use these items to share my love with these women.

We are so blessed here in the US. We take so much for granted. This little project is nothing and will do nothing physically to change these women's lives. I can only hope it will be a reminder after we leave that they are loved by a God who connects us all through the love of Jesus Christ.

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Living in the Midwest

Can I just tell you that most days I absolutely love living in the midwest. Today, August 30th, the temperatures here are in the 60's. We are supposed to have a high of 69 degrees. It is too cool here for shorts. I spent the firsts 45 years of my live in Texas and NEVER did we have a day in August that didn't require shorts, tank top and flip flops. NEVER!! This is wonderful!!!

You may have noticed that I changed my profile picture. The one I've been using is four or five year old. As a fund raiser for our Uganda trip, we took and sold photos at our church. My only complaint with these pictures is that my sons weren't here to be included.


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