What I Learned on the Way to Uganda

For efficiency, I've written an email and pasted it below, sans telephone number, though if you post a comment requesting it, it's yours.

Reader, thank you for reading.

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Dear friends,

Hello - I have limited access to email here in Uganda, but I wanted to let you know that I arrived safely last night into Entebbe airport (about 40 mins outside Kampala) and was picked up by a group of Korean missionaries who took me to their 'hasook jip' or guest house, after meeting several on the long stopover in Nairobi. It was an unexpected turn of events and last minute change of plans, but born of a harrowing journey on the way here...

The plane ran into some technical difficulty with the hydraulic system and so the flight was grounded for 24 hours in Nairobi, Kenya. Bad news - I saw people get very upset and angry, riots almost breaking out in the airport because no one informed about the situation and 10 hours went by before we were sent to a hotel, after a number of phone negotiations with airport authorities at around 4 in the morning. Good news - strangers became friends. I felt like I was being caught up in a fight between airport officials who did not seem to care about the passengers' well-being and the passengers themselves. The passengers were a very diverse group of young and old, African, American, Asian, poor, wealthy, etc. But in this situation everyone felt completely helpless and disempowered - we were held in a room in the airport for several hours before they allowed anyone to move - and no information was given about what was wrong with the plane and how long we might be waiting. It was quite a miserable situation, but I felt compelled to do something, so somehow negotiated to have a hotel arrangements and collected signatures from each of the passengers to use to ask for compensation from the airline when I get back to the States..I have never experienced something this strange and completely chaotic and disordered before...there was some kind of spirit of complete disorder and confusion in the airport that night. Several passengers were escorted away by men in dark suits into a holding room when they made a commotion. And we realized then that we had no real legal rights or protection. Anyway, it's a miracle, we made it safely finally the following day. As mentioned before, tne good thing that happened in this whole situation was that I got to know a number of very interesting people who happened to be on the same flight, including the guys who filmed the now well-known documentary, "Invisible Children." They were returning to Northern Uganda to film a sequel and document events happening in Juba, Sudan with the peace talks. Some of you may know already that "Invisible Children" is a documentary put together by a group of recent college grad guys from California who decided to go to Uganda and find out what was happening to the children there. It was such a strange coincidence to see them on the plane and speak with them after we arrived. I also met a professor at the University of Texas who was visiting relatives in Juba, Sudan; several women from Uganda, one of whom runs an AID/HIV clinic and several Korean missionaries - all of whom took me under their wing at one time or another.

I was able to get a glimpse of Nairobi while being driven back to the airport the next day - and saw lines of people walking and living in poverty - like I've never seen before. The scene was so vivid. People walking in barefoot along dirt streets with shacks made of wood or steel scraps. Kampala is the same, if not more poor. Life is very fragile here, but one also feels more fully alive. Every decision you make and every thing you do matters - for good or for bad. At the airport in Kenya and even now I got the sense that there are people who you have the opportunity to help or ignore moment by moment which could mean life or death, good or bad, for them, and it is a real, in-your-face decision. You cannot escape it here. It's sobering and difficult, but strangely life-giving at the same time. During the last portion of the layover in Kenya, I started reading passages from the Bible and things just popped out at me in a way that really made sense in the context of my new surroundings and recent events.

Upon arrival, one of the Korean missionaries and intern insisted I go with them to their 'ha sook jip' or guesthouse. We were picked up by a jolly Korean pastor/missionary who whisked us away to their guesthouse and arrived there close to midnight. There I met about 3 other missionaries with their wives and was fed a big Korean meal and escorted to a modest bedroom to sleep. The next day they invited me to stay with them during my time in Kampala and one escorted me to do a number of errands, including emailing (here at their church where I am writing to you now), visiting Makerere University where I had planned to stay, and bought a SIM card for the phone.

Sorry this is soooo very long. It's only been 4 days and I am already overwhelmed by how much I have seen and experienced in Africa. It's amazing, it's sobering, and it's also exhilarating...I urge you to consider visiting someday. Something changes in you when you see how people live here. I'll try better to articulate what that change is or why next time (and hopefully more succinctly!). Also I will try to update the blog instead of writing you these long individual emails. But for those of you on this list, I wanted or intended to simply to let you know that I was well and could be reached by phone here at: 07742170_ _

This is my cellphone number and I carry it around with me wherever I go.

Thank you for your patience in reading this message and allowing me to share my thoughts with you. I hope you are doing well; and please do call me here if you ever get the inclination; or have tips for contacts and travel here in Uganda. ;-)

All the best,
S