just a quickie

Quick update


So what’s up here?
I went to the the independence day celebrations the other day. It was interesting, although the stomach meds that I went on make me sensitive to the light and even despite the giant safari hat I still managed to get a good sun burn.

What an odd mixture of experiences there. I met a guy named Michael who is a Ugandan currently working in Iraq. He pointed out to me the last group of soldiers on the field who paraded past us. These were new recruits who are going to work in security detail in Iraq. Leave it to the US to import from the the third world cheap labor to be in our riskiest situations! I think he said they get paid some 1000$ a month, which would put one in a very high income bracket here in Uganda. I still don’t know how I feel about this. Even though it is consensual, it seems like another form of slavery…..

I had a chance to see quite a few traditional dances there. I would have photos, but I was told by the security go I couldn’t bring any camera in. Well, I decided to hid the camera away in the far reaches of my bag in the water bladder container. Thank god for Costco bags and hidden compartements. I was a good 50 meters away from the president of Uganda, the VP of Tanzania and the president of Burundi (another country on the US travel warning list that I can’t go to.

The traditional dancing troupe from Burundi was amazing. They came out 15 of them with drums on their heads. They were tapping the sides of the drums while beating the front. They also did some acrobatics.

The talk by museveni was far from interesting. I might have had that feeling though, cause I had already been standing for four hours.

The first 15 minutes of his speech seemed to cover the topic of oil and the process by which oil is finally being locally refined here in Uganda. He also spoke briefly about Prosperity for all. This is the vision of his party, but it seems in Uganda “all” is a very select group of people. Finally he threatened the northern rebels again… The way this man talks about Peace, you wonder if he really wants it. For him, peace will come whether the peace talks fail or not. Peace has to grow out of justice. It is a very difficult situation up north. The rebels want the ICC charges dropped. The ICC refuses. On the one hand, I can see how the ICC is trying to prevent any such crimes from happening in the future, but at the same time, Peace is needed in the north now! I don’t know… I will get back to you on this..

I am also finally getting over my sinus infection.

I started volunteering at a local “school” set up by undugu. There is no universal primary or secondary education here, so if you can’t pay for the school fees, then most of the children just have to stick around home. This makes them very depressed, so undugu has set up this informal school. They are still working out a plan for the syllabus and finding a way to pay for school fees. So today I taught English and math for two hours. I also realized, I still have no idea how to do long division…..

Now I have joined forces with one of the Jesuits here to help out with the Gulu Walk Event. www.guluwalk.com

Well, I have to go canvas.

Take care all,
mike