Ugandablog: a travelogue

03, January,

Dear All,

Happy New Year from Uganda!

This is my second full day in Uganda and already the trip has been worth the time, effort, and expense. I have been traveling around with Peter Georges, my host here, who is very knowlegable about the country and the people and he has shown me so much already. The people here are very affable and anxious to please and so it is quite nice to sit or stand and have a talk with people on the street, many of whom speak English. The children here are beautiful and love to meet white people. When you drive or walk by the young ones will yell “muzungu” (white man) and wave or come running up to you. They love to hold your hand or smile at you and if you see them more than once they will come running for a hug and perhaps ask you to pick them up. It is remarkable to see so much joy emanating from little ones who live in conditions that range from bad to unspeakable. The young people of this country are truly worth meeting. Seeing and meeting so many of these children and youths assures me even more that the work of St Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund is critical here. More than half the country is comprised of children and if any of the crippling problems rife throughout Uganda, socially, politically, and spiritually, are to find a solution it will be in and through these young ones. The chance to help them mature into healthy Orthodox Christian adults is a ready opportunity and I am grateful for the opportunity to help the Georges realize this vision and tell others about it as well. Today I worshipped at the Cathedral in Kampala with the Metroplitan of Uganda, Met. Jonah. During the service all the people sang loudly and joyfully and afterwards all the children were invited to lunch with the Metropolitan. So much color, so much joy, so many names to remember! This afternoon Peter and I went to visit with a village priest who has been ill for some time now. He was a gentle and kind man and offered us all the hospitality available to him, cold soda, afternoon tea (mixed with steaming milk) and boiled maize. He and his wife, their four girls and the orphaned son of his sister live together in a two room “house” with a tin roof with holes in it and a living area whose opposing walls I can almost reach by standing in the middle and reaching to each side. These are the conditions of many village priests in Uganda, some have less, but the many of them are hard working and devoted. Fr. Steven who we visited today told us of many of his physical and logistical difficulties but finished by saying that it would all be fine if he was only well enough to serve. Truly remarkable in his love and devotion to the Church. I must away now supper is calling. I hope to write more again soon. Please continue to remember me in your prayers. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Yours in Christ (and Uganda),

john brantley

06, January,

Dear All,

Blessed Feast of Theophany to everyone!

I am still here in Uganda and things continue to go well. Thank you for remembering me in your prayers.

I have seen and done so much in the past few days that it is difficult to recall the exact sequence of events but I will try. Two days ago Peter Georges, the founder of St. Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund, Frank and Agnes, his office staff, and myself went visiting some of the children who live in the area. It was hot and dusty that afternoon and we found the children out carrying water, washing cars, or selling wares as their holiday employment. Many of them are exceptionally hard working and bright. Without exception they greeted us with a smile and said I was “most welcome” in Uganda. Most of these children are orphans living with relatives or kindly neighbors who allow them a place to sleep and perhaps a little food. It is heartbreaking to see the conditions they live in. Almost all the children sleep in a tiny crowded room, exposed to all of the insects that fly in through the walls and the doors, with many other children and/or adults. Even those who are better off by comparison live in conditions we would regard as barely above squalerous according to American standards. There is limited access to clean water so bathing is not an everyday proposition and drinking water is obviously at a premium. everywhere I go I see young children, perhaps no more than 6 years old, hauling 20 litre jugs of water from the nearest spring so they family can have clean water that day. Despite all of this they are cheerful, welcoming, and the best of them are undeafeated. They work hard everyday in the hopes of earning for themselves a better life.

At lunch time we dined in a cook shack on authentic African cuisine. The establishment itself was merely some white whashed boards clapped loosely together with a piece of tin put over the top. The entire building couldn’t have been more than 20×8 and half of it was the “kitchen” which was a couple of traditional kettles cooking rice and the other foods on offer. During our meal it began to rain, hard. All of the men nearby crowded in to the hut to get out of the downpour so all told there were probably 15 of us in a room no bigger than 8×8 and the table took up a portion of that! The storm picked up and the wind blew the rain in through the walls and all the Ugandan’s howled and huddled closer together to try and keep dry because to them the rain was exceptionally cold. They imagined that I, sitting there getting wet, must be suffering tremendously and offered to make me a seat in the middle of the room. They were surprised to learn that I was not cold or near death and horrified when I told them that where I came from there had recently been almost a metre of snow on the ground. then they wanted to hear all about America and we had a great time talking while we waited out the storm. The food was good. I had beans with a little piece of beef in it with matooke (an unsweet banana type paste), sweet potato, and posho (yam paste?). The idea with Ugandan food is that you take the bland starches and dip them into the flavorful bean soup and together it makes a filling and tasty meal. The four of us, Frank, Peter, Agnes, and me ate and drank our fill for about $4 US which is more than some of them will see in a week.

Today we celebrated the feast at St. Nicholas Cathedral here in Kampala and then Peter, Frank, and I went into downtown Kampala to do some of the shopping for first term supplies for the school children. The system here is a trimester system and so you have to shop several times during the year. We took a Matatu (an old Toyota minivan converted to taxi status and holding at least 14 people, usually more) into the city which is an insane ride. There are no road lines and no lights and most of the traffic officers are huddled together chatting while the mobile universe disovles into an “I’m bigger or faster than you” chaos around them. Everywhere motorcycles (boda boda’s) are dodging in and out of unimaginably tight spaces and cars are wading out into the middle of intersections hoping that someone will stop, or just slow down, to let them through. On top of this people, young and old, are darting in between the buses, cars, and motorcycles all over the place. The entire scene is a rioting mass of movement and energy. When you add to this sound of continual horn honking, yelling, and the scent of burning oil, sweat, decaying vegetable matter, and stagnant water the experience is almost undescribable, but it is not boring. We fought our way into the shops and in only took us one afternoon to get everything we needed loaded onto a truck and brought back to the office for storage. When we got to the office people were waiting for Peter to beg for room in the program which, sadly, is completely full. While he talked with them we unloaded all of the paper, penciles, soap, shoe polish, etc. into the storage room. When all was finished Peter hopped on a boda boda and rode home for a late dinner/early supper. Tonight we will enjoy conversation and a cool, quiet Ugandan evening which is a most lovely way to wind down from a hectic day in kampala. This is a remarkable place and I want to thank all of you who have supported me and made it possible for me to be here. I hope to write again soon if the power doesn’t go out, which it often does. Please keep me and my family back home in your prayers.

With Love in Christ,

john brantley

10, January,

Dear All,

Blessed Lord’s day!

Everyday I am here in Uganda I meet new and interesting people with often tragic stories of loss and suffering who are rowing hard, to borrow an expression, against the tide of corrupting circumstance. Saturday afternoon the Georges held the award ceremony for those in the program who achieved the highest marks during the previous school year. It was a great opportunity for me to meet more of the students and talk with them for a bit. Some of them told me their stories and how they connected with St Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund, others told me what they hoped to do when they got out of school, still others asked me about life in America compared with life in Uganda. They were a shy but hard working, determined lot of youths and I admire them greatly for aiming so high (doctor, engineer, advocate for the poor!) when they have been started off with so little. At the Cathedral compound where I am staying there was a big Orthodox church competition yesterday. Each church in the central region of Uganda brough a group and they competed in choral singing, tribal dancing, drama, and poetry. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the endemic problem of domestic violence in Uganda and speak out against it. I was unexpectedly seated in a place of honor next to the senior priests of the Ugandan Church. Yikes! I couldn’t stay for the whole event since I was meeting with the St Nicholas children in the afternoon but it was quite an event. People scattered all over the lawn in brilliant dresses and authentic tribal costume. So many colors! I met a little boy named Petros, aged 10 and the middle son of three, who followed me around for much of the time I was there. He comes from a nuclear family with both parents at home, a real rarity here, and his father is the catechist at their church. In Ugandan terms his family situation is probably about as ideal as it gets but he told me with tears in his eyes, I don’t know why since Ugandan’s are usually reticent to speak about such things, about the day his little sister fell into the cooking fire and died of her injuries. I mention this to highlight the fact that here in Uganda even the best families have usually known loss resulting from HIV/Aids, lack of medical provision for treatable diseases, unsafe living conditions, bad water, and etc.. Petros later introduced me to his family who were lovely and hospitable and my thoughts turned again to the children the Georges care for who have suffered as much and worse but have no parents there to comfort them. To be child in Uganda is to be often lonely. But boy do they know how to party here! When I returned from supper with the Georges the dancing and singing was still going on. In fact they were still at it when I retired for the evening, tired for one day of being the light colored center of attention. They drummed and sang until late into the evening and when the judges announced the winners who would go on to the national competition I am pretty sure they heard the elated shouts over to the Kenyan border. It was a welcome relief to meet these people dressed in their finest, enjoying themselves, and since lunch was catered, eating their fill for at least one day. today we have rested from the Kampala markets, meeting, street wandering, interviewing new students and the like. Today we have read our books and enjoyed the quiet and the afternoon rain shower. Ok I was actually working on the roof when it began but other than that it has been an uneventful day. tomorrow we go to a village where the priest has been hard at work with his people teaching them about the Church and helping to establish some local industry. I hope to write you all again with news of that experience before I leave Uganda on Tuesday night. I hope also to send you some photos when I return the the states and a larger internet pipe. Thank you for your continued prayers. I look forward to returning home soon.

Ugandablog