First day in another world...and remembering why I fell in love with it.

Hi guys, this is the first offical entry in my Uganda blog... it is a little hurried, but I thought I'd upload it as I've been having problems getting my email to cooperate. This was at least a way to let everyone (my mother especially!) know I am well, and survived the journey.

01 April 2010

I’ve arrived in Uganda! What a journey it was to get here......we arrived at the Brisbane International Airport around midnight on 30 May and had a really good flight to Singapore for a short stopover stopover. We soon departed again for Dubai... wow, flying into Dubai was amazing. Really amazing. Firstly you see all these brown grey mountain deserts for as far as the eye can fathom. Any roads are built in the valleys and they are just brown and grey...no greenery or trees, Quite a sight. Then as you get closer to the coast the plains start, still in grey and brown tones. You’ll see the occasional green where someone has obviously invested in a pretty hardcore watering system for their backyard of resort. No pastures or farming land, just mines and powerplants in view....then getting even closer to the coast a mass of city just bursts. The city is different to any city I’ve seen and definitely made you feel as though you’ve arrived in the middle east...and funny that because I just had. Most of the houses were white with flat rooves. Kind of what I imagine many of the Biblical cities would appear as, less the 6 lanes highways and skyscrapers lining the distance. I didn’t see the city centre until we departed again – it too was a pretty amazing sight with the tallest building in the world dominating the skyline and that famous strange piece of architecture on the coast with a protruding golf green to practice your swing (what is that called??)......20 or so floors above the ocean. It was amazing.... and I’m glad that we flew in during daylight hours The stopover in Dubai wasn’t long... enough time to really only grab a fresh squeezed juice from the juice bar (lifesaver!) and a green tea from Starbucks. I was set for the 3rd leg of the journey...next stop – Africa! We flew into Kenya through thunder storms and that was an experience....I was thankful to get on the ground... The turbulence was just a little crazy, and the pilot did a few (what felt like) sudden dives -------- perhaps to avoid the storm clouds? I looked back once we had descended through them and saw lightening in the cloud we’d just flown through. Hmm. Safely on the ground. The flight to Uganda was worse in a smaller plane – but the pilot got clearance to fly higher and it smoothed out a little. As we approached Entebbe the pilot gave us the weather report – I don’t’ remember much other than there is low lying cloud...visibility is greater than 10 meters and it ‘should be safe to land’. Oh great, how reassuring to hear it ‘should be safe to land’. Oh LORD, I said I trust you – so now is a good time to demonstrate that hey? Needless to say really, we landed safely and I am here. Wow, I am here.

Peter and Edwin were at the gate waiting for me...it was really good to see Peter again, and finally meet Edwin. We drove home via the ‘scenic’ route of Kampala. I mentioned to Peter that I thought the roads were so good compared to last time – we had barely even seen a pothole! I thought things were changing in Uganda, until the guys laughed and said that’s because they were avoiding the everyday route...... The council manages to keep the ‘tourist’ strip almost pristine of potholes, yet sadly neglect the people they represent in the other areas.....soon enough as we got outside of Kampala the tires hit a pothole almost large enough to lose the tire in.... we all laughed and ‘welcome to Uganda!’ was all that was said. Yep, this is the Uganda I remember.

We arrived at the house close to 1am.....the house is about half an hour on the outskirts of Kampala in a small, friendly village. It is easy access to Kyampisi being only 20 minute drive there. It is a beautiful house with 4 main bedrooms, living, dining, kitchen and bathroom areas. Yes, with (cold) showers and flushing toilet! Pit latrines are available too.... they are a difficult phenomenon to describe. ‘Squat’ is all I probably need to say though, and I am confident you will fill in the blanks. I have my own room and comfortable bed which is really nice... There are a few people staying here in the quaters connected with the main house. I lady named Barbara who has shown me the ropes, Farida who works around the house cleaning and washing and a gorgeous 12 year old girl named Scovia who has become a good friend already. She is from the village and has been going through hard times so is here for a bit of respite...she is a delight. Scovia is not confident with her English, so we’ve made a pack. She’ll help me learn more luganda, while I help her to gain confidence with English. She is a great (and patient!) little teacher.

Today so far has been a really good day. The guys had errands to run in town.. so I had the opportunity for a quiet day. It’s been a blessing just to settle in without any major commitments. Tomorrow we’ll head to the village where I think the plan is to visit people of the church, outreach and have a service in the evening. Really looking forward to seeing it after what feels like so long. Last time I saw the project in Kyampisi, the place was only a piece of land, jungle and a prompting from God. He has taken it far with a now established orphanage school, thriving church (permanent building yet to come), a sponsorship program getting underway and many other things. This has all happened in such a short time, yet there is a long way to go. Prayers are so much appreciated!

Well, I will close for now. I’ll try to update this blog as often as I can... it most likely won’t be daily, the internet isn’t always reliable and the busyness of days may not allow... but I’ll be journaling my thoughts and experiences along the way and try to put condensed versions up here. I hope and pray all is well at home in Australia. I send my love and thoughts......

Bec
xx