Day 1

Random street traffic. and men selling sugar cane at car windows

Shipping containers, used for store fronts, markets, and homes on the side of the roads.

random homes made from whatever can be found or taken from a building that was shelled or hit during any numerous wars or attacks.

The basilica for St. Charles and his fellow martyrs, built in the shape of a traditional Ugandan circular hut, with 22 beams going around for the 22 martyrs.

The image shows the different ways these Catholics were martyred - 5 different ways in total.  I have a book that talks about each different man above and why and how and where he was executed.  Horrific but telling.

In fact this scene was starting, and so life like.  There are statues of men attacking and wrapping up St. Charles in reeds, and then being covered with wet wood.  They lit the fire at his feet so he would slowly burn from head to toe.  He started asking the executioner why he was pouring cold water on him, and told him that if he could feel how good this cold water felt, he would become a Christian to face the same death.  The executioner was so startled and scared that he ran away and died a Catholic some years later, taking the Catholic name Daniel.

The blue cloth is an altar cloth in the Basilica, and we are all looking at a bone relic of St. Charles, kept at the base of the altar.  People are encouraged to see the relic, and ask him to bring their petitions to God.  We do not worship saints, we simply, out of humility, ask them to intercede on our behalf to God....just like I would ask you or anyone else to pray for me - but heck, they are already in heaven, and spotless, so maybe they have a stronger pull that a friend would on earth.

More lawn mowers, and milk providers on the road side.

An few Indian families own these sugar cane fields, sugar plants, and tea fields.

This is the road through one of the jungles on the way to the Nile

Ugandan tea is growing

white flowers of sugar cane on a hill side

random stands on the roadside

not quite the "ghettos"but close.  Oh yes, it gets worse in the city.

On the road from Kampala to the Shrine on the outskirts of Kampala

A taxi type van - people line up just anywhere and get on - very very crowded - and I am sure they are smelly.

men and children camped out on the side of the road

Dinner, or a lawn mower, hanging out on the side of the road

Kids playing soccer on a road side field on the way to the Nile

Father Michael at the entrance to the trail that leads down to the mouth of the Nile

These orphans dance to raise money for their orphanage at tourist stops such as the beginning of the Nile

The water that fees the Nile pushes up from underground springs and gives the water a very glassy look at the "beginning of the Nile"branching off from Lake Victoria.

 Some of Gandhi's ashes were spread over the Nile in different areas. This is a marker that celebrates that.

That is a whole huge freshly caught tilapia from the Nile.  Can't believe I ate it - not enough for Father's likings, but I could not have eaten more if I tried.

An Italian priest who runs a large school, and radio station saying a Mass that was broadcast live to listeners in Uganda.

Samples from the radio station of what we would need to buy to operate one in Masaka - 4 hours a way.

Random pictures shot out the window of downtown Kampala

a poda poda that has only two people - now think, same bike, three more people.  Craziness.

Poda podas racing around people and cars along downtown Kampala city streets

markets along the roads in downtown - much cleaner than the ones on the roads in the suburbs

Here is just a quick update from our first day.


When I left you on Thursday I was headed to Uganda. And today on Saturday, I have finally begun my time here. We are 9 hours ahead of you so by the time you see this, at maybe 9 AM, it is dinner time for us.


When I left the school, it was early morning and I met my travel partners, Nap and Jeff Barranco. We drove to Atlanta, had dinner, and got on the plane around 5 PM. We spent 9 hours on the plane (till 2 AM your time on Friday), flying to Amsterdam, and then we got to get off and switch planes and stretch. Then we got back on the plane at maybe 4 AM your time and flew 11 more hours, till 3 pm your time, which was actually very late Friday night.


Father picked us up right away from the airport and we stared our drive from Entebbe to Kampala. Kampala is the largest city Uganda, and the Capital, but because so much of the capital was built before airports were necessary, the airport had to be built in the flatter land of Entebbe. One thing I forgot before we got in the car was that the steering wheels in the cars are like England’s, and people drive from on the left side and the steering wheel is on the right.


It was almost midnight by the time we got through and got our visa, and loaded into the car and to the hotel.  What I found amazing is that there are very few street lights, no stop lights or stop signs, and no rules.  Motorcycles called podapodas zip in and out of traffic, cars hop the sidewalks to get around you, and people cross where ever they want to risk their life.  I saw a podapoda with 4 people balanced on it, and one of the ladies was carrying a chicken like a baby.  They also have taxi vans that have 10-15 people smashed inside. I don't know about you but if you tried to it 15 kids in my car there might be some fussing.


And for it being midnight, the streets were crammed full of people. People were everywhere, stereos on, motor cycles racing around and people dressed to the nines.


For the first 2 nights, we are staying at a hotel in Kampala. It is very nice building, built by the British. Hotels can be beautiful on outside but immediately you can tell the difference between hotels here and hotels back home. You pull up to a huge wall with a gate and honk.  Then a guard comes out and checks underneath your car to make sure you have no bombs and inspects the trunk space and where you are seated.  Then you are allowed through the gate.  You walk through a metal detector to get inside. The rooms are very simple with tile floors and small tv and fridge and desk.  Praise God that they have an internet cable.  They have a fridge, which Father said is nice for us before we go to Masaka, where he has no fridge.  There's a small bathroom with no door, and a shower stall with no door.  The water is not heated at night so my first shower was freezing.  


What you learn before you even get on your first plane is that you do not drink water from facets or wash your tooth brush or face with water from the sinks.  There is a little plug in pot that you boil water in, and you wash your brush and wash cloth with that. It makes getting ready for bed a little long. Also, there is no cold water to drink or ice because there are very few fridges and no freezers anywhere.  Most places run on electricity that comes and goes or off of a generator that gets shut down at night.  


I went to sleep on Saturday morning around 4 am because Jeff and Father and I needed to get caught up and plan a few things for the next day.  It was a nice way to start out trip and play catch up with each other.  I woke up around 7 and ate in the lobby area.  There were a ton of fresh fruits – pineapple, mangos, papayas, passion fruit, breads and chai tea and coffee. (Again, no water.)  We ate our fruit on the patio surrounded by beautiful plants and some very loud birds.
After breakfast we had very important meeting about building a radio station here. A radio station is something that is so important because it means creating jobs, spreading the good news about the Catholic faith, giving people teaching tools, and giving Christian artists a way to spread their music.  And advertising would help bring money back to Father and our ministry.  Music and radio is the life blood of the people and most importantly, the children of Uganda.


The next job for the morning was to fill up Father’s car with petrol (gas). It cost $120 to fill up even though his car only has 17 gallons in it. (They measure gas/petrol in litres here). Gas is just so much more expensive here. On another note, when I got outside, I found it hard to breath a bit.  There is a different acrid smell and taste to the air.  My lungs and nose were burning for the first few hours.  Part of that is because they burn off a lot of waste, but another reason is because of all of the diesel vehicles.  When we were driving around town, I wanted the window up because the breeze was right in my eyes, but having it up meant that all of the smoke and toxins the car was sucking up from the muffler of the car a foot away was sitting in the car and not funneling out.  It meant for wild hair and very dirty skin.  


We went too a coffee shop in the gas station where everyone knew Father and where they have the best coffee. They also sell donuts and huge slices of cake that are as big as your head.  And they were only about 50 cents, for a donut the size of 3.


We then had to drive to the other side of Kampala to meet with a lawyer to talk about how Americans can better help build schools and radio stations and help children. Most of the time businesses do not operate on the weekend, but she made a special trip into the office to see us.  Driving through town, only a few miles took us a long time because the streets are over-crowded with markets and people shopping from them.  People were selling everything from sugarcane in plastic baggies to bananas from baskets on their heads to clothes and shoes and belts from metal cargo shipping crates that are tinted in blues and reds and yellows.


Then Father decided that because we had done so much good work, then we needed to go spend time with God. So he took us a little ways outside of town to the Shrine and Basilica of the 22 Ugandan martyrs. On the way there, we got to see more of the suburbs of Kampala. Rows of markets lined the streets, only they were more permanent than the first and much smaller, but there were rows and rows of them.  Happy little children stopped and waved and yelled at us, while older boys raced up and tried to sell us snacks and clothes and fabrics. Naked babies ran around their parents and the store fronts. Most times, behind the metal cargo containers, there were little ghettos made of mud and wood poles or falling apart brick buildings where they lived.


We were given a tour of the shrine where St. Charles was martyred and that was in remembrance of the other 21 martyrs.  There was a sign that showed how each of the martyrs met their eternal glory, stain glass windows of their faces, and a scene that showed the martyrdom of St. Charles.  That was particularly horrific, but nothing new for the people there who survived Idi Amin and Kony and other atrocities.  We followed the trail around the shrine to the waters in the back where they celebrate the feast of the martyrs in June. But then it started to rain.  And when it rains here, it rains very hard for 20 minutes. So we sat in the church and the guide told us the story of why the missionaries were martyred, we saw a bone relic of St. Charles that is in the base of the altar, and listened to a very beautiful choir practice.  All of these martyrs were killed because they would not renounce Jesus. The king hated the fact that his servants would become Catholics.  He hated that they would pray "thy kingdom come" and wanted to know whose kingdom was coming, if not his.
 
After the tour, we left for the Nile River.  The Nile River is the longest river in the world, and begins with fresh water bubbling out of an underground spring in Lake Victoria.  From there, the river runs 400 miles south.  We took a boat tour on the Nile, to the bubbling up point, and then onto Lake Victoria.  We then sat at the restaurant there and ate fresh tilapia. It was gigantic and so good, and that means something from someone who only eats swordfish and hates the smell and taste of most fish.


It took about 2 hours to get back to Kampala because Father wanted to show us his country.  He would get very sad sometimes and say, “Look at my country.  Look at it.  I want you to experience the realness and the needs, and the survival that people accomplish.  Take this back to people.  Answer their questions, and get them to come here.  The little they can do, they must do.  We are not rich, but you can come here and bring hope and faith to these people and set an example to them.”


The people of Uganda eat once a day, normally an early dinner.  Our stomachs were a little grumbly and growly today, but they will get used to it.  I saw Kolbe and the kids on skype today and they said they were eating pizza and had ice cream, so now I am a little jealous.  I had tea before I sat down to write this, so I should be fine.


Father tells me that my real work will begin on Monday morning when I will go off with the women to learn what women in villages do to survive – like searching for firewood, and cooking over fire pits.  I better not have to skin any animal because I draw the line there – if I do not eat it, I will not skin it.  He wants me to learn so I can come back to America and teach you how life is in so many places around the world.  I had heard that our cook at the Delta Center had very dull knives whose blades were falling out of the handles, so I bought a new set and hopefully they might help her in her thankless work.


In other news, they sell sodas in glass bottles, and when you buy one, they want you to drink the whole thing right away so they can keep the bottle and recycle it themselves.  It has very little carbonation, and is bottled so it is safe to drink.


We will go to a church that has asked Father to say Mass tomorrow, the Shrine of St. Jude.  It should be wonderful.  I have some shopping for technical equipment to do after that, and then we will head out to the villages.  I also have a bunch of coffee to purchase and bring back.  If anyone has requests, message me on facebook.  I have no idea if I can post things from there, but I will certainly type up life as it happens and get it back to you.


I am supposed to tell Gracie and Max that Chapaw is safe and that he loves them.


Father Michael sends his love and greetings and he says that he hope's you grow up toward to serve the Lord and that you will come here and visit him when you get older.  He also said that if you want to know more or learn more, or if there is something you want a picture of, to let him know and he will answer any questions that I give him and get me to the places I need to see so you can get personal photos.


There are plenty of pictures to see, so enjoy.

Allison