June 16th, 2011

June 16, 2011


Yesterday was a wicked hot day as was today. I hope I can get used to the heat here more. The day started off fairly lazy but we soon got to start putting up barb wire around Musana. We only made it to the second post when Haril called and we had to take another trip to Jinja. This time we actually got cleats for the kids but only half of the ones that are required for all the kids. It’s a start. We did get to pick some paint up so we could paint the jerseys. We tried doing that today but the paint doesn’t stick very well to the material. The Musana letter template took forever to cut out because we only had a tiny little razor. Everything does take twice as long here it seems. The two jerseys we did get painted look ok but I am sure they would look better with another layer on em. Maybe we can get them done before the games next week, but we will see.

Today was African Child day and it was interesting. Basically a bunch of different schools and orphanages got together to present a bunch of songs and poems about street children getting left behind by parents. It was an awareness of all the children being neglected here in Iganga. It was a really long presentation so I decided to get a chapter knocked out in my book. Musana kids performed last and it was great to see all of them get to sing in front of everyone.

The poverty of people here is starting to sink in. Riding around behind Bryan as he drives us on the Boda is a fun time and I try to concentrate on us not dying. Once I take my eyes off the crazy traffic and driving that goes on around here I notice the brutal living conditions of most people. Sure there are some that are ok and living comfortably but most are in pretty bad poverty. It is becoming apparent that this country needs a major overhaul to come even close to starting to modernize. There are a ton of homes that don’t have indoor plumbing and only some have electricity running to them. I picture everyone here living as if they are out camping, but permanently. Even the way they do build larger buildings here takes time and a lot more effort than in America. Concrete must be shoveled up a set of what looks like large stairs or landings then put into a wheel barrow to get it to where it needs to be once it has reached the second floor. I know concrete work in America is difficult, but here, it seems close to impossible. Somehow the people here get it done. It is a very hard working country, but to me, not a very smart working country. Even the government has a bunch of corruption which doesn’t help the situation of the people.

There are people who are doing good for this place and it is awesome to see. There is still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done. Helping the children at Musana feels good, but I can’t help thinking of all the other things that need to be done for the people of Uganda. It really makes me appreciate what is in America.