Non-Stop Praise Parties and Crazy Taxi Drivers

This week I went with Pastor Frank as well as Ugandans, James, John, Unea and Dominic on an outreach to the village at Igoma. We went to support and minister alongside the local churches. We packed our bags, mattresses, PA system, microphones, portable generator, keyboard, drinking water into the van and we left for the 4 hour drive.

We arrived in the village of Igoma after lunch. A group of locals had plugged in some busted stereo speakers and connected an old CASIO keyboard. They were praising and dancing over the top of the distorted music. There is no electricity in the village so I think they were powering the music with a car battery and a bunch of frayed wires. The sound crackled every time the keyboard moved. We were greeted with enthusiastic smiles and waves from the group. At this point we were taken back to the house where were staying. Although it was just a cement floor and walls with beams sticking out of them, it was very posh compared to the majority of other houses that were dirt floors with mud walls. We put our bags and mattresses on the floor. The team then returned back to where we were first greeted. The group was still singing and celebrating. We unplugged the distorted stereo speakers and powered up the PA with our portable generator. A larger crowd gathered. Frank handed out four microphones to random locals who wanted to lead the praise. John pressed an 80s beat preset on his keyboard, sped up the tempo and cranked the PA. From that point on – it was a crazy, non-stop praise party.

I remember going to a music ‘venue’ in Brisbane a few years ago called ‘610’. It was literally a cement bunker. They had no license. There was random graffiti and street art all over the walls and cellophane sticky taped to the fluoro lights on the ceiling. Someone would set up a PA and a bunch of bands would play. Some bands would just press a preset on their synthesizer and start screaming into the microphone. Other bands would spend half the set getting crazy feedback. I thought 610 was the most ‘punk rock’ thing I would ever experience in my life. I was wrong.

The atmosphere at the village outreach was raw, wild, passionate and out of control. It was fantastic. There were people dancing with their backs on the grass. People with arms raised, people screaming their love for Jesus in local language until you thought they’d explode. Often the four people singing into microphones sounded like they were singing in different keys. Someone else would grab the microphone and start belting out a new praise song and everyone would join in. There was sweat and jumping and hip shaking. There were other dance moves that looked like they were invented in outer space. A bunch of drunk men came from the street and joined the party.

My friend and local pastor, James got up to speak. He spoke in Luganda and it was translated into the local language of the village. I have no idea what he spoke about but it must have been great because people kept shouting cheering and laughing. We then prayed for a bunch of people as the music continued to blast from the speakers. Some people got healed. A healing that stood out for me was a man who had blurred vision and pain in the backs of his eyes. We prayed for him three times. He smiled and told us that his vision was completely normal now and all pain had completely gone. I talked to him the next day and he was excited about his new vision. How good is God!

Some people didn’t get healed at the Outreach including two babies who had cleft palette and a boy who was unable to move his legs. The team had met the boy last time in the village and this time brought him a wheelchair that had been donated (previously he had dragged himself along the ground most of the time) . The babies (and their mothers) came back to Lugala with me. The babies are having an operation today which has been paid for by COME.

After the message/prayer, the praise and dancing started up again. It was really funny but the singing and dancing only stopped when Frank literally unplugged the PA. The community would have kept singing for a few days. Even after the PA was physically unplugged, heaps of people went back to the mud-walled church and kept dancing/ screaming/ praising until some ridiculous hour. I have been so insired by the faith and passion of the community at Igoma.

I attended a few fantastic church services including one that went for nearly five hours in the mud-walled church. At one of the services. The Pastor gave Frank a gift for all the support he has received. The gist consisted of a live chicken, a huge jackfruit, a bag of cabbage and a branch of plantain bananas. It was weird driving around with a live chicken sitting in the back of our tightly-packed van. We also visited a local school that COME supports. Each night I was treated with more local food than I could consume. Matoke, Pausho, Meat, Potatoes and enough Cassava to sink a ship. I also tried a local millet drink that tasted a bit like water from a Hessian bag (but apparently it is normally really yummy). It was an honour to meet such an amazing community and minister with them. I particularly made good friends with Robert a local young man who translated for us.

The rest of the team continued to another village but I decided to return to Lugala to continue some work in the school. I caught a Taxi Van with the mothers and babies that I mentioned earlier. The taxi van was licensed to carry 15 people. Somehow they managed to cram 26 passengers into the vehicle at one point. The conductor was a crazy man who only knew one volume for talking – flipping LOUD. The vehicle was going 130 km per hour at times. We initially passed two separate police checkpoints. Each time the police first gestured for the vehicle to pull over but then the driver gave them a thumbs-up signal and just kept driving. When they saw who the driver was the police then gave him a smile and waved. I could not work out if he knew the police officers as mates or if he had just bribed them in advance. Twenty minutes up the highway, the taxi driver received a signal that police were ahead. Even though we know longer had 26 passengers, we still had too many and the driver knew that the police would pull him over. He stopped the van and signalled to a random motorbike driver to pull over. A bunch of people got out of the van, jumped on the motorbike and then we keep travelling. After we have passed the police and journeyed around a bend, we found the motorbike waiting for us. The passengers jumped off and then hopped back into the taxi again. We passed through three more police checkpoints on our trip. In these instances we were pulled over and it was clear that we were going way over the speed limit and had far too many passengers. In each instance the driver bribed the police with 5000 Ugandan Shillings (about two dollars and forty cents Australian). So in the six experiences we had with police in the one journey, there was ‘dodginess’ going on in each interaction.

Anyway I managed to get home in one piece and we brought the two women and their beautiful babies back to the compound. Today the children are having their operation please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Andrew

God is good all the time

Hello lovely friends and family who have been following our journey.  Finally I write and I am sorry that I have been so slack.  My time in Uganda has been somewhat emotionally and internally challenging and I have not known what to write, with so much to tell and so little to say.  So I now give you a long and hopefully not too arduous personal journey which cannot be told absent of my walk with God over this time (I hope that’s ok). 

It is dry season here and everything is hot and dusty. The girls come home filthy and it is to my horror that I found out the school inspects all the kids fingernails each day.  I took Maya late yesterday during finger nail inspection time and realised that she had the dirtiest fingernails in the whole class.  Oops! We lose water and power frequently but it is of little consequence to us who live in the missions house. We realise we live a very privileged life, we never have to carry water!   The wet season will be here soon which will alleviate the dust but bring the mosquitoes and malaria. 

My responsibilities here have included two main roles

THE FIRST:  The HOPE Medical Centre, a great facility built and started by COME Uganda. The centre is in a rural community made up of largely subsistence farmers where there is a great need for medical care.  The setting is beautiful but my time there has been fraught with personal frustration.  There is so much opportunity for growth and it seems hard to know where to start.  We have had a high turnover of staff since I’ve been there.  I have lost sleep over how to change practice, improve knowledge and lift the care we give to the community.  Nurse/Midwives/Medical friends I could tell you stories that may frighten you as they frighten me.  Practice makes me cringe every day.  That said we are moving forward, one step forward two steps back, but forward at least. 

I have been able to write policies and do some staff training and educating.  I have reorganised, restocked, questioned, stayed silent, become a control freak, tried to make friends, been too task focused, felt discouraged and been misunderstood.  Our Midwife, Anne, is an older lady who is very experienced. She has done five deliveries in my time here.  She drives me crazy with her constant drug errors and stubbornness.  Most days it seems I arrive to some kind of problem, most commonly staff not showing up. 

In this dry season we had been without water for about three weeks, this did not seem to bother anyone else as much as it did me, washing hands after all is not such a priority.   Praise God we have water and resources and power most of the time to work with.  We have hired some new staff and have some more on the way so I pray that before I leave things will be running well.  As you can tell this has been quite a challenging role but wonderful as well.  It has led me to throw frustrations and pride down before God and I am grateful for every struggle that has lead me deeper into his loving arms, He truly has rescued me here. 

THE SECOND: Of my roles is working with the HIV GOLD group.  This is a group of up to forty women who live with HIV, mostly widowed or abandoned, with children and living in severe poverty.  These women break my heart with their stories and they know hardship that I will never experience.  When I arrived the group was running as a support group; offering friendship, spiritual, emotional and practical support.  They met once a week under the leadership of my amazing friend the COME Social Worker, Doreen. 

I have had the incredible opportunity to assist these women in creating some simple crafts to sell and hopefully generate income.  I smile as I write about them because they are so beautiful I wish you could meet them all.  We started by making dolls which we have sold to visiting teams whilst here, we have also made traditional paper beads, bangles out of old water bottles and necklaces. 

I have just purchased 4 sewing machines (Thankyou PTC and generous givers) and they are being trained each day to sew.  We will move to some new projects soon and I hope to bring many things home to sell, although we are fast running out of time.  I have approached a tourist shop here that is interested in our goods.  The women are so excited to use the sewing machines, I will buy some more soon.  I have also made up a sewing kit for each women to have. It includes: patterns, needles, pins, scissors, cotton, bobbins etc.  These kits are given to them and they pay back a small amount from the sale of their craft to purchase their kit.  We are making things from local and easily accessible resources or recycled rubbish, so that the projects will hopefully be sustainable after I leave.  Our logo was hand drawn by one of our ladies and we have had stamps made to label the craft. 

Women with HIV in this community are often shunned by the stigma.  They can live under great shame and condemnation, they do not easily trust because they fear others finding out.  The women in this group are so courageous it makes me cry. Others within this community know that these women have HIV, if they come to the GOLD group,  yet they come anyway knowing what it means for them.  The most amazing thing is that now many more have joined us and I am being approached by others within the community without HIV begging if they can be a part of us.  I am laughing as I write this because it is hilarious, I have people listing off their health issues saying, “I don’t have HIV but I do have high blood pressure, diabetes, a sore leg, can I come?”  It is in the light that the shame of living with HIV leaves! Thankyou God!

One of the women in the GOLD group, Margaret, is our sponsor widow.  I visited her house the other day to deliver some bunk beds.  They live as many do, 6 people in a small crumbling mud house with no beds, no mattresses and no sheets.  The living conditions never cease to take my breath away.  But God is good all the time!

In Uganda this is a common Greeting. One person says, “God is Good” and the other will reply, “all the time”.  Really, ALL the time? I could easily question when so many times a day I see those who cannot feed their children or send them to school, those who cannot find work, those who cannot afford rent or medication, those who have lost loved ones, those with malaria, those who have been abused. 

At church each week they ask for people to come forward to share something they are thankful for.  Each week they say, “We only have time for five”.  Every Sunday there is a mad dash to the front of the church of those fighting for a place to testify of God’s goodness in their lives.  They seem not to be able to count because usually ten or so come forward and refuse to be turned away.  They share any number of things big or small, most commonly, “I am alive today, I am here another day”, they say with excitement.  I know many of them personally and I know the hardship of their lives, however there is nothing fake about their joy.  They understand God is good! They appreciate every good thing and know he brings them no harm.  They do not blame Him for what is not His fault. 

These guys surely know how to look at what God is doing, He is everywhere here and there is so much room for Him.  What else is worthy of their hope?  What else can they rely on for provision, joy, life, love, health?  The government? NO.  The Police? NO.  The Hospitals? NO.  A Yummy meal? NO.  Some retail therapy? NO.  You see I know if I get sick  I will just go to the fancy international hospital here and get what I need.  All they can turn to is God, He is all they need.  The loving, comforting, beautiful, real sanctuary of God.  He never leaves them, He never lets them down.  He really does come through for them there are so many miracles every where here. 

It is too amazing how much hope exists within such visible hopelessness and despair.  I see-saw between being brokenhearted for the least, and then envious of their relationship with God and how they get life.  I have come to rest with both.  The Bible says that God causes everything to work together for GOOD.  So he takes our darkness, our evil and our injustice and poverty and uses it for our good.  He is not capable of inflicting harm on His kids who He loves, nor would he want to, it is just not His doing.  But he can use that which was meant for harm  to be turned around to be beautiful, restored, healed and free.  In powerful miraculous ways He always wants good for us.  

I am not saying for a minute that the injustice of this world is excused because God wants opportunities to work for good.  Even a four year old understands his heart for the world.  A beautiful, vibrant four year old girl who has recently been robbed of her innocence.  We took her to a playground and paid for her to play there.  She had chicken for lunch (too expensive for her family to eat), she had her face painted.  She had never seen such a thing, when she saw the swings and the slide and the trampoline and all the toys, her eyes almost popped out of her head.  She exclaimed, “This is Jesus’ World!!”  What a profound statement that brings me to tears.  This is Jesus’ World, she gets it, she knows what He wants for His kids is a place free from fear, shame, poverty, just love, freedom, prosperity, fun and access to playgrounds for all kids.  So there is no way I can grow to accept the poverty around me, whilst His heart for this hurting world is understood by a four year old. 

Can I share with you a story, a story one of the COME Uganda miracles… there are too many to tell.

JOSEPH

Joseph was an eleven year old, his parents were separated and he lived with his mum until she found a new partner.  At this time he was dumped with his dad, but his dad also had a new partner who did not want Joseph so he took him to his mum’s house (ie. Joseph’s Ja Ja).  His Ja Ja hated him because he was the child of the woman who left her son and for some reason she locked him in a chest.  He was eleven years old and she starved him and broke his arms and legs and multiple bones and stuffed him into a box to live out the rest of his life.  He couldn’t use the toilet, he could not eat and he was a mess.  One day his father visited and found him in the box.  He realised his son was close to death because he was so skinny so he took him to the ancestoral home ready for burial.  When the father arrived to that village, the people were outraged and forced Joseph’s Dad to take him to the hospital.  When he arrived at the hospital the nurses and doctors were so outraged that they tried to attack and lynch his father who was rescued by the police and arrested.  Joseph was found in Mulago hospital a mess, the nurses used to throw the food onto the bed but nobody fed him.  This is where Mishele’s friend Mabel found him and nursed him through his multiple operations.  She prayed over him every day and spoke life over his now deformed body and spirit.  When COME heard of this boy they prepared a place for him and bought him to live and go to school.  Some of his story was shared in the newsletter and instantly an airline pilot responded and sponsored him. 

Joseph still faces many obstacles. He requires walking aids and finds it difficult to mobilise and use the bathroom.  What his body lacks in strength, this guy makes up for in spirit and faith. He continues to believe God for his complete healing and is a total hero! He thrives in HOPE school and he is now fifteen years old.   Now Joseph’s sponsor family, sponsor over twenty children.  The wife wanted more kids and the husband did not so they agreed that instead they would sponsor many children around the world.  So they had never had any contact with Joseph since he was sponsored.  Just recently Mabel was talking to Michele and telling her how Joseph dreams of being an airline pilot.  Mabel was telling Michele that she did not have the heart to say that it was not possible and was saying, “who am I to say that that can’t happen”.  Michele was speechless as she knew Joseph’s sponsor was also an airline pilot.  Recently a team from Australia visited from the church where Joseph’s sponsor attends.  On their return they mentioned to the wife of the sponsor that they had met Joseph.  She had no idea that her husband had sponsored another boy named Joseph and she screamed.  She told of four years ago when she longed for another child but it was not to be, of how God gave her a dream and told her she would have an African boy named Joseph…  Four years ago when she had that dream was when Joseph was still in the box. 

God is good all the time.

If you have managed to read this whole blog I am impressed, thankyou for sticking with me throughout  my journey.  Love you lots and look forward to our return.   

Britt

If you are interested in finding out anymore about sponsorship of COME Uganda kids or widows please let me know because there are so many more miracles like this one needed.

Long time no Blog

Today we had church. The worship was beautiful and passionate but also very loud (as usual). I actually turned it down at the mixing desk twice but I think the team just sang louder. Tomorrow school starts back. Our girls will return to nursery school (abbie in Baby class and Amaya in Top Class). Today our girls are out playing with some kids from the community. They often sing words from local Baganda praise songs. I think they are picking up the local languages quicker than us. It’s beautiful to see that even though we often speak different languages there are no barriers.

A few days ago I had a haircut from Michael (a student from the Hope School) and also a man named Frank, who was the barber at the salon. I think bazungu (white person) hair was a bit of a novelty at the salon. While I was at the salon, the barber asked me what I was doing in Uganda. I explained that I was assisting as a Chaplain/ Pastor at the Hope School. He then asked me if I could pray for him to receive Jesus. There was a big line up of people wanting haircuts so I decided to go back in a few days to chat (with some of the local pastors) and pray with him. He experienced God’s love and it was a beautiful, powerful time.

We also visited a bunch of families to talk and pray together. We eventually ended up at a lady’s house enjoying matoke, rice, chicken and ground nut sauce.

A few weeks ago I was invited to another wedding of two people that I’d never met. I was asked to give a wedding sermon (which was a first for me and felt kinda weird). I also ended up being the wedding photographer (again a first). It felt bizarre telling a wedding party how to pose. A common custom here at weddings is for the bride to kneel and then feed the man some cake and cordial. Everyone cheers like crazy.
It is also very unusual for the couple to kiss at the wedding. Pastor Frank had to encourage the couple to hug.

Britt has been hard at work with the HIV Gold women’s group. The group are having fun creating dolls. They have already sold most of the first batch. I love the unique hair styles that the women give to each of the dolls with beautiful braids and beads.

God Bless,
Andrew

Christmas and Paraa Photos

Merry Christmas

Watching Elephants play whilst eating lunch

At the moment we are Chillaxing at ‘Paraa’. This is a resort about six hours from Lugala. It is quite surreal, sitting at a beautiful resort beside the Nile River in Africa. Today we went on a safari drive and saw elephants, giraffes, a bunch of hippos having a swim, jacksons and exotic birds. The food here is amazing and we leave every meal overfull. Yesterday we watched elephants playing in the Nile River as we ate a delicious buffet lunch. We’ll post some photos soon

Wedding

The other week I was the invited guest to a wedding of a person that I’d never met. I arrived late as I had to drop another person to the airport through crazy traffic. The bridesmaids were already walking down the aisle when I arrived outside. I intended to just wait and then slip in the back but the local pastor grabbed my hand and pulled me down the middle aisle between the walking bridesmaids, right up the front to special VIP seats. The music was some kind of prog techno version of ‘Here comes the Bride’ with midi toms going crazy. This track was played at ear bursting volume. Everyone was cheering like crazy as the rest of the bridal party walked down the aisle. They all had amazing hair that was braided, twisted and flicked in different directions. All the bridesmaids (about ten of them) wore iridescent purple dresses. When the bridal party was seated,  they ushered me to come and pray for the wedding. This was quite unexpected but I gave it my best shot. The wedding ceremony could be best described by the word: ‘EPIC’

The other day I met with someone who will be working in a chaplain/ pastor role at the Hope School next year. We talked about supporting young people through challenges. I wanted to establish protocols for when child safety incidents arose and the referral process (to the social worker). I asked:’ What is a minor problem that could come up regularly here’. In Brisbane a minor problem would probably mean: ‘Having challenges with my friends at school’ or ‘My parents don’t understand me…’. When I asked this question here I got the response: ‘A student sharing that their parent is withholding food from them (e.g. refusing to feed them).’ I was a bit taken aback (that this was a ‘minor’ problem) and I asked what would be a major problem that you could come across here. I got this response: ‘A student told me that his parents wanted to sacrifice him to the demons of their village’. I am pretty sure I would leave these problems to the amazing local social worker. I am a little out of my depth…

Despite all these challenges that many of the students face at home with their families,Hope Schools are literally changing lives. You just cannot measure the impact…

Some testimonies

Britt has loved making craft with a group of women who have HIV. They are working on baby dolls. The women don’t want to stop and just want to keep working whenever they meet.

I have been making some auto tuned hip hop with positive lyrics, with some of the young people and will post some tracks at some stage.

Since I have been here I have had the absolute honour to lead two people in prayer surrendering their hearts and lives to Jesus. The other day when we were praying together, one of the amazing young people experienced the fullness of God’s presence for the first time in her life. It is exciting ministering alongside such incredible, faith-filled people. Every person has a testimony that inspires your soul. I will share more when I have permission from the people have shared testimonies with me.

Anyway I will blog again soon (before Christmas).

Andrew

Amaya’s Graduation from Nursery School

Amaya took part in a Graduation from Nursery School complete with Academic Hats, Gowns, musical items, dances, performances, games and Christmas carols played at ridiculous volumes. It was an extravaganza. Check out a Photo and a video from the event.

http://www.facebook.com/v/10150499744597835

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150499742612835&set=a.10150457833122835.421388.522842834&type=1&theater

Taking Porridge like a Ugandan

Hello all, 

We are settling into life in Lugala well. The kids are now adapted to the way of life here not so clingy and not running home from school.   I had a very proud moment when Abbie’s teacher told me that she now takes porridge like a Ugandan.  Let me explain, every morning the children are fed porridge, which is a maize and water mix that appears like  hot, thin, clag glue.  The children (4 years old) line up with their cups and have it filled to the brim. They never seem to spill even a drop and I always marvel at how the children manage the piping hot beverage without a spill.  Now Abbie likes this drink and would always spill her cup as she carried it to her class room like a drunkard, but now not so much it seems! Progress! Hopefully by the time we return our children will be even more like Ugandan children and walk themselves to school, wash the clothes and cook the dinner!

I have grown accustomed to driving in this crazy place and by God’s grace alone have not been in an accident.  I drive many times out to the medical centre which is in a remote village, the drive is along a very muddy dirt road with pot holes that resemble ponds or dams when it rains, often I pass trucks that are bogged and thank God that I have not been stuck and know fearlessly we are coming under His protection.   I am helping to establish some things at the medical centre which has not been without its challenges.  On my first visit there I came back overwhelmed by the work that needs to be done.  I have ordered essential supplies with a very limited budget, for the midwife who has just started and for the rest of the staff.  I am totally outside of my area of expertise but hey that does not seem to be a factor here! I have spent lots of time in a container filled with expired medical supplies from Australia it is chocked to the top and you can be lost in there sorting what can be used and what cannot.  I still feel terrified by some of the practice out there and am trying to encourage some order and assist with encouraging hygienic practice. I know what we are giving is much better than what the community would have without the medical centre, I know it is a light and a service to the community.

On attending church last week someone approached me about a boy who had burns up his arm and asked me to help.  At one look at his arm I couldn’t hold back my shock,  when seeing his two day old burn blistering and mutating his arm covered in toothpaste that had turned yellow and green. I could not believe the small boy was not screaming in pain.  It seems toothpaste was the treatment of choice for this boy from a very poor family.  My first very western response was to tell them to go to the hospital, but with translation it seemed that this was not an affordable option for this family. I realised that I needed to help and have been dressing his wounds every few days since.  Since this word is getting out there that there is a “white doctor”, and I get knocks on the door with all manner of complaints some of which I can help with and some I cant. Our house is a sanctuary and we live very comfortably being fed well and go without nothing.  It is a huge contrast to what surrounds us and we are very blessed by the relative luxury we live in it has made life easy.

The beautiful Aussie who some of you may know, Lisa Mckenny, is also a luxury we have come to rely on.  She has been overseeing the schools and does an amazing job.  She has made life so easy, for some reason having her to talk through all our confusions and questions has been such a blessing.  From her experience and stories she seems to give us a perspective on life here that a Ugandan may not be able to give us.  I cannot imagine being here without her she is a gift! (she took me for pizza and a chocolate sunday enough said).  There are so many amazing people here and we are loving getting to know this beautiful community.  I have noticed I have written a lot so will update you with what I have been up to with the HIV Gold group of women next time.

 Aside from this our roles include all manner of things including, burying the dead dog, filling the generator, and driving errands.

 

God Bless,

Britt

 

Hope

This week i have spent most afternoons up at the Hope School. Students who experience extreme poverty have been sponsored so that they can attend. Next year I will be working with Edward, a teacher at the school, to provide spiritual support for the students. I have been working with Edward to develop a simple discipleship resource to help the young people grow deeper in their relationship with God.

Each lunchtime, I have been connecting with students and hearing their stories. Every young person has a heartbreaking story. Each day at the Hope School, the students receive a sweet maize porridge for morning tea as well as beans and posho (like mashed potato but made using maize) for lunch. Every wednesday the students get rice instead of posho. Their faces light up. There is a big line for the last rice scraps and leftover ‘juice’ from the beans at the end of lunch. When they are taking the teachers’ plates for washing up, some students sneakily grab some of the leftover food.

Britt has been assisting at the Hope Medical Centre, which is a 45 minute drive out of Lugala, at Lukwanga. The centre has a CO (a bit like a doctor), an assistant, pathology and a midwife. This week a baby was delivered at the centre.

Some tips I have picked up

 Ugandans are ALL amazing dancers. I am not.

 If a Ugandan person keeps raising his or her eyebrows at you when you are talking, it does not mean that they are surprised/confused/bewildered….it’s just a nice Ugandan equivalent of nodding your head in agreement. Ugandans get a bit confused by our heads bobbing up and down all the time when we are having a conversation.

 If you say ‘hello’ but do not ask ‘how are you?’, it is very rude in Ugandan culture. A normal greeting here involves: ‘Morning’, ‘How are you?’, ‘How was the night?’, ‘How is your wife?’, ‘How are your family’, ‘How are your friends?’ etc…

 Pastors (or chaplains) wear smart clothes all the time here. (I must be really disappointing the locals).

 My favourite Luganda word is Kiwanyi (pronounced Chi –wa – ni – almost like a shortened version of Chi -hua hua). Kiwanyi means fake.

 Andrew