Life on the Other Side

I'm in Mukono again, but only for a short time after doing a bit of traveling. I wasn't planning on posting this often, but I have a couple of thoughts that I really wanted to share.


I have been talking to David, my host father, about getting together funds to provide Edward, a boy in our community, with the education he needs to become a doctor. When David and I first started talking about getting funding for Edward to go to a better high school and then to Bugema University, I thought that it would be an easy thing for me to do. Wrong. University tuition aside, Edward will need over $1,300 just to finish high school at a good enough school to get into a university. I'm afraid to learn the cost of tuition, room, and board at Bugema. I've become really grateful for public education at home. Here, you pay tuition no matter where you go or what grade you are in. It's no wonder it's so hard to make it all the way through college. Anyways, if anyone has any ideas for how I can get the funding to make this possible, I would really appreciate that. Edward has become really important to me in my stay here and I really believe that, given a bit of assistance, he will make a fantastic doctor. He actually wants to become one for all of the right reasons and I would hate to see him miss out on the opportunity to do so.

I also wanted to share my experience from today. Today is Martyrs' Day in Uganda, which is a celebration in honor of Uganda's first truly influential Christians. When Uganda was still ruled by an animist king, missionaries began coming to Uganda and beginning to convert a few of them, including several of the page boys in the royal court. When the previous king passed away, his son decided that he would no longer allow this conversion to continue. He told the page boys that they must choose between Christianity and their king. They chose Christianity. They were consequentially sentenced to be burned to death. The king thought that this would put an end to the continued converstion, but on the boys' hanging day, they walked out onto the stage with smiles on their faces and sang Lord's Prayer together until their death. Every year, they are commemorated by pilgrims that go to visit the site of their burning on foot. It's a very serious journey and some people walk all the way from countries like Sudan and Kenya to complete it, taking up to two months to get there. Ashley and I decided to go. Granted, we walked only a short distance, but I became suddenly aware of what it is like to be a true Ugandan, rather than a Muzungu. Normally, I am granted a good deal of respect when I travel in Uganda, but today, I was just a part of the crowd. It has taught me where Ugandans get their patience from. Standing in line was incredibly uncomfortable and cramped and since they would not let Ashley in with her camera, we had to stand in that line 3 times....just to be uncomfortable and cramped a bit closer to the church. It was a rather frustrating day since I spent my entire morning being shoved around in the sun, but it gave me an appreciation for what it is like to be part of a crowd when no one thinks you are more important than anyone else. I've honestly never felt so undervalued as an individual, but it was just to gain some humility.