Halfway point: Life in Uganda

So last night there was a bombing in Kampala , Uganda , but we are in Arua so we are OK and don’t actually know anyone who was killed. It doesn’t make it any less of a tragedy though. Two bombs went off during the World Cup final game, killing 70 people. It’s crazy when it happens so close to you.

A little window into life here in Uganda :

The cities ( Kampala , Entebbe , Arua) have some pretty crazy driving. The streets are filled with bikes, motorcycles, cars, and pedestrians. They have something called “boda-bodas”, which are motorcycle drivers who you can find just about anywhere around town and you can hop on and get a rid somewhere. It costs like 50 cents to go 2 or 3 miles, which is the distance from our house to town. Every three or four days we try to get into town to get to the internet café.

We aren’t roughing it as much as I thought we would. We have electricity and plumbing, though the house is pretty basic. I am very thankful that the house is right in the heart of the town and doesn’t have any fences or anything like that to separate us from the community. We will often bust out some futbol’s and kids will come out of nowhere to come play with us. We end up having 30 or 40 kids over playing, it’s just too bad that most of the younger ones don’t know English. They feed us really well here, as we don’t often miss a meal. This is hard when we are in a community where I know that not all of the kids are eating three meals a day. But we have to accept what they give us, otherwise we would offend them as they pride themselves in showing honor to their guests.

A lot of people here don’t have electricity. As we drive through Uganda at night you see total darkness, except for a fire here and there, until you come upon a town, some of which have just lanterns, but the larger ones have some electricity. Most of the kids here have raggedy clothing, and it is not common to see a kid walking around with decent shoes. Many kids have ripped shirts and dirty shorts. It is really hard to see kids with swollen bellies from malnutrition. Many people have died in this area of the last few years from starvation because of a lack of rain. It’s rough here.

It is a weird dynamic to be in a place where your skin reveals your economic status. Many people look at white people here and see money, which is typically a fair assessment, but it makes it difficult for relationship building. It makes sense that if any good ministry were to be done in a poor area, I would need to move there and become one of them. You can’t live a wealthy life in a poor area without actually doing more harm than good. And you can’t even live a poor life but have a bunch of money in the bank account it seems, without having some challenges. I don’t know what to do while here, but it is a needed tension. I have so much privilege, wealth, and power compared to the world that it is ridiculous. Not sure how to use this for the betterment of others yet, but in the meantime it makes relationships harder and more tense. Please pray for wisdom. Thanks!