Well, another road trip down and back to a homely Kampala. This time 9 days with my parents to Buikwe, Jinja, Sipi, Nyero, Soroti, Lira, Murchison Falls, Ziwa and home (a big circle round Lake Kyoga - see google maps history picture). Amusingly, I think this definitely means that we've seen proportionally more Ugandan locations now than UK ones. This trip was a variety of sightseeing, experiencing various initiatives that Dad has been involved in through the Transformational Enterprise Network, continuing to try and understand the peculiarities (and joys!) of Ugandan Anglicanism, being bitten by mosquitoes and learning not to take pillows for granted!
Some assorted thoughts/memories:
1) One reflection we've had recently has been to do with the concept of 'going to bed' in a quiet place for a number of hours. When you come to think of it, it's quite a weird idea...and not one that seems to be assumed here. We mentioned previously the pilgrims trekking to Kampala for martyrs' day, some walking hundreds of miles; when I asked where they slept (I had imagined I kind of haute route hut-to-hut experience), they looked a bit nonplussed...it seems they just walk...then sit down for a bit in the night...and then get back up and keep walking. Similarly, the concept that it might be rude of your neighbours to play loud music all night, or beep their car horns loudly at 4am, or generally consider the fact that you might be asleep seems to be quite unusual here. We have been amazed at the long-suffering forbearance that people show with night-time noise that would have residents of SE15 on the phone to Southwark council noise pollution dept faster than I can say 'Kyaliwajjala'.
2) Crocodiles are amazing animals
3) 'Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions'. In my previous gap-year incarnation in the Amazon rainforest, I remember being struck that, in a tropical country, you can really live on extremely little. Barring emergencies, if you have a roof, a bit of space to grow some fruit and veg and access to safe water...you can live on almost nothing. This trip was our most intimate experience yet of life in the 'village' (the way Ugandans speak of rural living) and we were struck (ready for some cliché) by the sheer contentment of so many of the people we met. Now sure, in the UK, we probably do need some kind of method of warming our houses...and the ground does not produce as abundantly or as quickly as it does here...but energy invested in the relentless race to get more stuff that can feel so prevalent in London is, in my observation, inversely proportional to contentment.
4) Children are very resilient! A moment to give credit to our children. There were some pretty basic nights on this trip: a highlight being the night when we had one pillow between 8 of us and our request for another was met with bafflement (this was the same night as the loud music all through the night from a nearby village) and a lowlight being the night when Josh and I shared a bed with approximately one billion mosquitoes and spent the vast majority of the night trying to thwart their advances. There was also a lovely moment in a village near Soroti when Theo decided to give his birthday football to some local children (there is more to this story that slightly mitigates against any perception here of unbridled altruism). In general though, I was struck by their adaptability and willingness to embrace whatever came their way; certainly a helpful corrective to my lack of patience with some of the circumstances!
5) Did you know lions can climb trees?
6) Anglicanism is a multi-faceted beast. This reflection certainly needs more time, space and intelligence, but someone helpfully commented to me on this trip that anglicanism in Uganda is a very different animal to to in the UK; it's a kind of mash-up of liturgical anglo-catholicism, pentecostalism, african traditional spirituality, and reformation theology. We visited a church in Lira in which all of the above were in evidence in a delightful and slightly terrifying combination!
That's probably enough for now. Thanks for your messages and comments, particularly for your thoughts and prayers for the kids. I think this trip was a good time for us as a family (Zoe has been trying to think of ways in which we can spend more time together as a family when we get home - which is probably a good sign). Please keep praying that the anti-malarials keep doing their jobs and that we can be useful here as we approach our last month.
Much love from us all.
A lot of wisdom here