This is Africa!

There’s a saying here “this is Africa” or TIA basically you can use it whenever something doesn’t run to schedule or you see something that you just wouldn’t see anywhere else - it happens a lot here! I thought the easiest way to give you a bit of a picture of what it’s really like here & what we’re doing might be to answer questions, so this is our attempt to do that!

What is the size of Kampala?
Approximately the population of NZ living in Hamilton! Yip, people live very close to their neighbours!
Where are we staying?
With the Bartons who started Operation Uganda. They are fantastic hosts & have an awesome family. The boys enjoy hanging out with their kids when we come back each day to have a bit of ‘downtime’.
What’s the food like?
Where we’re staying we’re eating pretty much western at night. We’ve discovered rolex’s which you buy at most markets, which are chapati with like an omelete inside & rolled up - they are delicious! Rice or posho (cornmeal & water), beans, pineapple & banana are common. The pineapple is great! Veges are well priced, though anything else is about the same as NZ prices - some things more & some less.

Chocolates not the same. Sodas usually come in glass bottles & you have to use a straw as bottles are reused & bacteria likes to live under the cap.We’ve found our new favourite drink though - Stoneys, a great gingerbeer!

What weird and wonderful things have we seen?
A boda (motorbike taxi) can be used for just about anything. A few things we’ve seen on bodas are a fridge, someone holding a car windscreen, double bed & table - together,
I thought this list would be huge, but most of the things now just seem ‘normal’! I did see a sign that said “Please report bad driving” where should I start?!
What are the roads like?
Pete says they’re like a cross between a motorcross track & dodgem cars, as well as having thousands of bodas (motorbikes), people & livestock - yes you share the road with everyone and the only rule seems the biggest vehicle has right of way, give way to military/police & put your nose into the traffic or you’ll never get anywhere. You can borrow the other side of road for however long you need it. The potholes stop the traffic from being too fast - it’s nothing for one to be ½ metre deep and about 1- 3metres wide. Pete drove for the first time today. We all survived. Just.
What have we been doing?
Most things we’ve been doing together, then there’s a few we’ve done separately. Together we’ve been getting to know the kids & national team at Jordan house, visiting new friends here, looking around Kampala. We helped with an activities day at Jordan House yesterday, and today we went to Jordan House church where us and the team from Australia were the only muzungus! (white people). After church we helped some of the Jordan House church members serve literally hundreds & hundreds from the community a meal. We’ve been enjoying the beginnings of building relationship with some of the community & it will be hard to say goodbye.

Pete: helping oversee a renovation project of the sleeping areas at Jordan House, & putting his MacQyver skills to use already with other odd jobs.
- Spending time with some of the young men in the community - a couple in particular have taken a real liking to him & if I go to Jordan House without him they’ll ask me to take their ‘greets’ to Peter (then they’ll check up on me when Pete returns to make sure I did!) They’re great guys!
Danielle: visiting the Heart Institute with Operation Uganda staff to finalise plans for little Shafika (hear about her story here) to fly to India for lifesaving heart surgery.

- Checking out a home & counselling centre for pregnant teens
- Sorting what we will need to come back with & looking at a missionary familys furniture etc that will be leaving around the time we’re planning to be arriving
- Looking into what needs to be done to start the health clinic at Jordan House
Josiah & Josh: playing with kids, helping with the room renovations & soaking up the African way of life
How are the boys finding it?
They’re doing really well - obviously a HUGE culture change - they’ve been in situations that most adults won’t see in a lifetime & they’ve carried themselves well. We debrief at the end of the day to help them process what they’re seeing. They’re great with the kids at Jordan House - playing ball with them & hanging out.
What do we think of it here?
We love the people - their warmth, resilience & strength. Their life is hard. This place is hard. We’re finding ourselves more & more drawn to this place & the people. For those that know me well, you’ll know I don’t do dirt, bad smells or rodents well. I’m doing them all - and I’m still ok! There’s things we both love about Uganda & will find hard, but at the end of the day we know this is where God wants us to be & we can’t wait to be back here with the whole family.