When in Uganda…
- “Agandi” means “Hello, how are you?”
- There are speed bumps galore.
- The electrical power turns off when it wishes. They say the government just randomly decides to turn it off. Sometimes it is all afternoon and other times it’s just for 5 minutes. You never know when you will be without light.
- You hear “Muzungu, Muzungu” every time you walk into town (which basically means there’s a white person).
- There are always people walking along the road.
- Americans are known for having a small appetite. Often we must tell them “no Ugandan portions for me”.
- Chapati, Mendazi and Milk Tea are their specialty. Chapati is flat like a pancake and made with flour, milk and a few chopped up onions. Mendazi is basically just water, flour, baking powder and a little bit of sugar. Then their Milk Tea is made with the “wholest” whole milk you can imagine along with some tea.
- Rain is about a daily occurrence as we enter their rainy season, but we are thankful for it as it means we will have running water.
- Cow crossings are regular occurrences while driving.
- A flat, straight road is a rare find.
- Their cakes are made with a hard frosting, with a dry spice cake inside (shockingly they grew on all of us!).
- You can buy a full Ugandan portion sized meal for 2500 schillings (it’s 3600 schillings to $1)
- A graham cracker is considered a sweet cookie. They don’t do sweets like us.
- You drive on the left side of the road.
- We sleep with bug nets.
- Nutella and chocolate are our taste of home.
- The main form of transportation is boda bodas (motorcycles) or a taxi.
- All of the kids walk to school on their own around 7am and head home around 5pm.
- Some schools are open on Saturday as well.
- The people are VERY welcoming.
- You can stumble upon elephants in national parks.
- “I’m going to push you” means “I’m going to walk you home”.
- 50% of the population is 14 years old or younger.
- Wifi is a scarcity. You either sit and pay for the wifi in a wifi café or you buy it per mb and use a modem.
- They don’t think to turn their brights off when driving at night.
- Dancing and singing are common at funerals.
- There is no such thing as a line. Everyone budges and jumps in when they feel they want to.
- Everyone has shaved heads. If you are a more well off woman you may have weave/braids in your hair.
- Their dancing is a form of stomping their feet and looks nothing like any American dances.
- The women all wear skirts to their knees.
- There are no public schools, so families must find the funds to send their kids to private school (there are tons of school sponsorship opportunities if you are ever interested, message me and I can connect you with an organization I partnered with this month!).
- English is the national language and is taught in the schools, but everyone grows up speaking their regions dialect. For instance, Rukungiri’s is Runykole.
- In small towns like Rukungiri, you are likely to be the only foreigner.
- Having six children is a normal size family.
- The cops stand on the side of the road and tell you when to pull over rather than catch you in their vehicles.
When in Uganda… we like to say “Uganda Happens”.
We head to our first debrief as an entire squad in just a few days and then on October 13th we arrive in Kigali, Rwanda where we will be doing our second month of ministry.
Thanks everyone for your continued prayers. It has been an amazing first month of ministry. I am sad to see that it is coming to an end. We have made so many wonderful friends and memories in Rukungiri, Uganda.
Mukama Asiimwe (Praise God).
