This is Kansanga, a district of the great city centre of Uganda - Kampala, where I will be living and teaching for the next 2 years. It is a bustling metropolis where you can buy almost anything on the street corner, from food items to beds or sofas. The streets are busy with people hawking their wares, taxis calling for fares and boda bodas zipping in and out of the people and traffic at an alarming pace; sometimes carrying bedding, furniture or even pipes strapped on sideways so that they take up the entire road width and threaten to mow down anything that gets in their way.
I must admit that the first time I travelled into the city centre of Kampala, I was nervous and felt like I was taking my life in my hands. The hierarchy seems to be that NO ONE stops for pedestrians, taxis don't stop for bodas and generally have the right of way of all traffic and volley for the best position down the roads, often coming within inches of one another along the bumpy, dirt tracks.
I live in Muyenga, a district near Kansanga. I have to walk up a steep hill, alongside a quarry and through a cow field to get home from school each day. The cows generally move out of your way, as you make your way down the tricky, dusty slope, but their horns look vicious and I wouldn't want one to take a disliking to me.
This is a photo of my house:
I think I am settling in quite well over here. My housemates seem great and the house is gorgeous, as is the guard dog, Rafiki, who is very playful and likes to lick and bite me all over ;)
Our guard is very kind and generous and trustworthy, which is wonderful as it could be very different.
Almost every day and most evenings that I have been here there have been power cuts (typical Uganda!) and we have done things via gas lantern or torch light ;)
Which is actually how I hosted a meal for some new friends last night - via gas lantern! LOL
People at work seem lovely and we are busy orienting ourselves to the culture, learning cultural do's and don'ts, visiting the centre of Kampala to change money and buy groceries etc - but which actually makes you take your life in your hands what with the crazy and very close & weaving driving of the taxi mini-buses and the bodas which are motor bikes! I am getting more used to them a bit more now tho and am not quite as terrified of falling off the back as I was.
I have been sorting out my classroom and making it more me - all colourful and lively and the other teacher has blessed me by letting me have all the more able children in my class - otherwise I think I would have gone more crazy with the lower levels of teaching over here than in UK. I will meet some parents Thursday and Friday this week and start teaching Monday 22nd August.
The food has been pretty normal so far. I had pizza for lunch the other day and peanut butter on bread for breakfast. Last night I had pasta bolognaise and for lunch I didn't enjoy very fatty and gristly goats meat and chips - the chips very good tho! Today I tried my first local dish of matoki, which is a vegetable that looks a bit like a green banana but is quite thick and filling.
I have yet to try the local delicacies of white ants and grasshoppers - I'll keep you all posted
;)
I visited 2 churchs last Sunday - Watoto Church, which Matthew & Ruth, Ken & Angela went to, and Calvary Chapel, which also came highly recommended. I liked both of them, but actually Calvery Chapel felt more like community and home, so I may well become part of that one. I am going to their street children's ministry this Saturday to explore and to serve the kids - apart from the early morning that this entails, I am excited about this :)
Please pray:
* that I continue to settle in well and make some good friends here.
*that my health remains good and that I stop getting bitten by mosquitos and spiders!
*that I adjust to teaching in Uganda and build good relationships with my class, parents and other staff.
Until next time,
Lots of love
Jackie
This is Jackie, my namesake :) She was born with HIV.
This is Wycliffe. His mum died with him in her arms. For the first few months he wouldn't stop crying but he is a lot more secure and happy now. One of the babies at the centre, who I held and prayed for was only 2 months old. She was left in her own afterbirth for the first 3 weeks of her life and wasn't cared for. When the centre saved her she absolutely stank. Poor little baby! I just can't believe some of the things that happen to them :( Praise God for people who are willing to come and help and take them out of the difficult situations and show them love!
