We arrived in Kampala Saturday. It is a bigger city. Nothing like the US cities though. The streets are still dirt and have holes ALL OVER. Their sidewalks end at any point and are also covered with holes. Someone could easily fall into one I am sure. After arriving in Kampala we walked from our hotel to an ATM to get some money. (However the ATM wouldn’t take our cards, dangit. No money.) As we walked there everyone stared at us. No, not just looked and not just stared for a minute but the whole time we were passing their faces would follow us. The city is completely chaotic. I absolutely love it. I want to drive here. There are no street signs, oh wait I saw one, other than that you just have to create your own right of way or passage. They drive on the opposite side of the road which took me a while to get used to. I would look at moving cars and think, “What the!? There is nobody driving it.” Ha ha. But I caught on soon enough. We walked down this street that none of you will even be able to imagine no matter how much detail I go into. It was horrible. There were children, I want to say babies because some couldn’t have been much older than one year, sitting about 10 feet apart on the sidewalks begging. Their hands were permanently cupped and they would just sit there and look at you with their big eyes as you passed. I believe their eyes were the biggest thing on their bodies because they were so small. They were very poorly dressed and it was awful to walk past them. I could give them money but it wouldn’t help them all too much. Not in the way I wanted to. I wanted them out of that situation and in a better place. One little girl was so tired she had fallen asleep as she sat there, but her hand was still outstretched in cupped form, another child had bird poop on her head (Saturday and Sunday when we saw them, it hadn’t been cleaned off), and another child sat holding a younger baby. I asked Violet (our Ugandan assistant) why they were out there and she said most are because their mums don’t want to take care of them. I will. Send them with me. If only….
Buzumu’s is what they call us white folk here in Africa. I believe it is the one word I will remember. They all come out of their houses (!? If that’s what you can call the 4 x 4 dirt huts they live in) to watch us come by. I like to wave at them and say “hello” It makes them smile. It has made me more grateful for my life and all the little unnecessary things I have that I take for granted. Little children run around with no shoes, dirty clothes, and no toys loving life and I think, they don’t even understand the circumstances in which they live. This is life to them. It breaks my heart. When I say hello to the locals they are quick to respond and want to become friends. They say, “Hello. They call me _____ (insert their name), I want to be your friend,” I quickly say, “okay!” I love it. Can’t have too many friends in Uganda right!?
Church was so wonderful. I went to a branch in Makono, Uganda. I am thankful for the days I served in nursery because I decided to go to primary with a little girl named Nassozi Joan. She was sitting in sacrament meeting all by herself so I asked her to come sit by me. I found out later that she was an orphan. Someone in UT is paying for her and two other little orphans to go to school there in Uganda. It isn’t an LDS school but they choose to attend the LDS church. How wonderful huh!? Well I went to primary with them and I got to teach songs that we sang in nursery and share my testimony with them. The testimony meeting was INCREDIBLE and I loved hearing all their testimonies and feel the spirit that they brought into the room as they shared. I love that no matter where we go, the gospel is the same. Mmmmm-Mmmmmm-Mmmmmm, I love it so much. As everyone was filing in (we arrived about 45 minutes early) they would say hello to EVERYONE in the room, they call came pretty early. They would welcome one another and ask how they are doing. They would come to shake my hand and welcome me. I told one man, it is so good to be here. You make me feel so welcome. He said, “Ah, the saints are the same wherever you go.” And he walked off to welcome some other members of the branch. I thought, “no. the gospel is the same but the saints are not.” In the U.S. I am greeted by not as I was here. I am sure people show it in different ways but these people have so much love and happiness that they just want to share with everyone. You can feel it and I absolutely love it!!!!!
Buzumu’s is what they call us white folk here in Africa. I believe it is the one word I will remember. They all come out of their houses (!? If that’s what you can call the 4 x 4 dirt huts they live in) to watch us come by. I like to wave at them and say “hello” It makes them smile. It has made me more grateful for my life and all the little unnecessary things I have that I take for granted. Little children run around with no shoes, dirty clothes, and no toys loving life and I think, they don’t even understand the circumstances in which they live. This is life to them. It breaks my heart. When I say hello to the locals they are quick to respond and want to become friends. They say, “Hello. They call me _____ (insert their name), I want to be your friend,” I quickly say, “okay!” I love it. Can’t have too many friends in Uganda right!?
Church was so wonderful. I went to a branch in Makono, Uganda. I am thankful for the days I served in nursery because I decided to go to primary with a little girl named Nassozi Joan. She was sitting in sacrament meeting all by herself so I asked her to come sit by me. I found out later that she was an orphan. Someone in UT is paying for her and two other little orphans to go to school there in Uganda. It isn’t an LDS school but they choose to attend the LDS church. How wonderful huh!? Well I went to primary with them and I got to teach songs that we sang in nursery and share my testimony with them. The testimony meeting was INCREDIBLE and I loved hearing all their testimonies and feel the spirit that they brought into the room as they shared. I love that no matter where we go, the gospel is the same. Mmmmm-Mmmmmm-Mmmmmm, I love it so much. As everyone was filing in (we arrived about 45 minutes early) they would say hello to EVERYONE in the room, they call came pretty early. They would welcome one another and ask how they are doing. They would come to shake my hand and welcome me. I told one man, it is so good to be here. You make me feel so welcome. He said, “Ah, the saints are the same wherever you go.” And he walked off to welcome some other members of the branch. I thought, “no. the gospel is the same but the saints are not.” In the U.S. I am greeted by not as I was here. I am sure people show it in different ways but these people have so much love and happiness that they just want to share with everyone. You can feel it and I absolutely love it!!!!!
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